Spurs kick off post-Harry Kane era with 2-2 draw at Brentford

New signing James Maddison lays on two goals to help salvage point for Ange Postecoglou's side

BRENTFORD, ENGLAND - AUGUST 13: Cristian Romero of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates with teammate James Maddison after scoring the team's first goal during the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Tottenham Hotspur at Gtech Community Stadium on August 13, 2023 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Julian Finney / Getty Images)Show less

Tottenham Hotspur began the post-Harry Kane era with a battling draw at Brentford – with new boy James Maddison providing two assists.

With Spurs' record goalscorer Kane completing his move to Bayern Munich, it was left to defender Christian Romero and Emerson Royal to grab the goals in a 2-2 draw at the Gtech Community Stadium.

New Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou fielded four debutants, including Maddison, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie and goalkeeper Gugliermo Vicario, for his first Premier League game in the season's opener.

New vice-captain Romero put Spurs in front after 11 minutes, guiding a whipped Maddison free kick home with his head. But he had to be taken off shortly afterwards with suspected concussion after taking a knock to the head in the celebrations.

But Bryan Mbeumo responded for Brentford from the penalty spot after 26 minutes after new Tottenham captain Son Heung-min had brought down Mathias Jensen in the box.

And Yoane Wissa gave the home side the lead after 36 minutes, side-footing a cutback from Rico Henry past Vicario.

Royal levelled it for Tottenham in first-half injury time crisply guiding home an assist by Maddison.

Tottenham manager Postecoglou said after the game: "Considering the events of the day I thought we handled ourselves pretty well.

"Harry Kane was massive figure for this club for a long time and will continue to be whether he is in the building or not. We wanted to go out and give our supporters some hope and belief in the team. I thought they did that today.

"In terms of effort I couldn't ask any more. We got a great start to the game and then had to take Romero off. I thought we reacted well to that. But conceding the two goals, it would be easy to drop out heads but I don't think we did that.

"We worked our way back in, scored and controlled the second half for the most part. We could maybe have been more creative in the final third to create some more opportunities."

Brentford 2 Tottenham Hotspur 2 - in pictures

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  Tottenham Hotspur's Emerson Royal, right, celebrates with captain Son Heung-min after scoring his side's equaliser to make it 2-2 in the Premier League game against Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on Sunday, August 13, 2023. AP

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  Tottenham's Emerson Royal, centre, celebrates with captain Son Heung-min, left, after scoring his side's second goal. AP

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  Emerson Royal of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates after scoring their equaliser. Getty

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  Brentford's Yoane Wissa, right, scores their second goal. PA

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  Brentford's Yoane Wissa celebrates with teammates after scoring their second goal. AFP

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  Yoane Wissa of Brentford celebrates. Getty

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  Cristian Romero of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates with teammate James Maddison after scoring the team's first goal against Brentford, Getty

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  Brentford's Bryan Mbeumo celebrates after scoring their first goal from the penalty spot. AFP

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  Bryan Mbeumo of Brentford scores their first goal from the penalty spot. Getty

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  Tottenham Hotspur's Cristian Romero scores their first goal. Action Images

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  Tottenham Hotspur's Cristian Romero heads home the opening goal. AFP

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  Tottenham's Cristian Romero, centre left, celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal. AP

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  Tottenham Hotspur's James Maddison in action with Brentford's Christian Norgaard. Reuters

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  Tottenham's new manager Ange Postecoglou at the end the game. AP

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  Tottenham Hotspur's James Maddison shakes hands with manager Ange Postecoglou after the match. Reuters

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  Tottenham Hotspur's manager Ange Postecoglou. AFP

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  Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou shakes hands with Brentford manager Thomas Frank before the match. Action Images

Brentford manager Thomas Frank has been deprived of main striker Ivan Toney, who has been banned for eight months for breaking betting rules.

Frank said after the game: "I thought we performed fine in many ways. I thought we definitely created more chances. In a relatively tight game I think we should have won it. They are a good team, we kept them to little with a low block. The two goals were the smallest chances that they had. In the end, we got a point.

"The decisive moments, there was a big chance for Bryan [Mbeumo] in the first half and one for Mikkel Damsgaard and Kevin Schade and other situations where we didn't get enough out of it. Probably just that final bit of quality on the day.

"They [Wissa and Mbeumo] have a good habit of scoring when Ivan [Toney] is not playing. I am pleased they continued that today.

"It is a long, long season. I have said it before I hope we can attack the league and be an asset."