The Premier League is back in action once again, just eight days since the FIFA World Cup 2022 ended in Qatar. In the first match of the Premier League restart ever since domestic leagues around Europe broke for the World Cup in mid-November, fans were treated to an absolute thriller as Thomas Frank’s Brentford took the fight to Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur.

An early goal by Vitaly Janelt followed by a close-range strike from in-form striker Ivan Toney after the half-time break saw the hosts leading 2-0 at one point as they struggled in all phases of play. With Spurs in dire trouble and looking for inspiration, it was captain Harry Kane once again who stepped up and inspired a late comeback that resulted in them taking a point away from this game.

Kane, whose late penalty miss against France resulted in England getting knocked out of the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals, was subjected to taunts and jeers from the home crowd. However, the star striker kept his composure and headed home in the 65th minute to give his side a lifeline.

Pierre Emile Hojbjerg, one of five starters for Tottenham today to take part in the World Cup in Qatar, scored the all-important equaliser just six minutes later with a calm finish. Kane almost won the match for his side but his header was unfortunately struck the cross-bar and rebounded off.

Brentford will feel extremely disappointed with the way they threw away the game given that they were comfortably leading 2-0 at one point. That disappointment echoed in the sentiments of manager Thomas Frank in the post-match press conference.

“Until the Kane goal there was only one team on the pitch,” Brentford manager Thomas Frank told Amazon Prime.

“It was a very good performance and the players are disappointed.”

All eyes were on England captain Harry Kane and how he would respond to the adversity of missing the penalty that resulted in his side’s exit from the World Cup. However, Kane along with the rest of his teammates, were barely involved on the pitch until the hour mark.

However, any suggestion that heartache from the World Cup disappointment would bring him down were quickly dismissed when he rose high to meet Clement Lenglet’s cross and plant a header past David Raya.

It spurred Tottenham into a different gear and they made it count once again with Dejan Kulusevski’s cut-back finding Hojbjerg in the box and the ball ending in the back of the net.

With the point they took from Brentford, Tottenham are now in fourth place in the standings with 30 points to their name, seven behind table-toppers Arsenal who play later in the day.