Brentford thrash Tottenham 3-0 in De Zerbi’s Premier League opener

Brentford made an emphatic start to the new Premier League season with a dominant 3-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Keane Lewis-Potter opened the scoring in the 12th minute before Vitaly Janelt doubled the hosts’ advantage in the 33rd, leaving Tottenham with a significant deficit before half-time.

Michael Kayode then added a third four minutes after the restart, reacting quickest inside the area to put the result beyond Roberto De Zerbi’s side.

Brentford’s performance was convincing beyond the scoreline. They repeatedly exposed Tottenham’s defensive structure, generated the better chances and finished with an expected-goals figure of 3.96 compared with Spurs’ 0.47.

Mamadou Sangaré was particularly influential on his Brentford debut, contributing to two goals and helping the hosts dominate the physical exchanges in midfield.

Tottenham had more possession for periods of the contest but struggled to translate it into meaningful attacking pressure. Their new-look side, featuring several summer additions, lacked cohesion and were regularly second best in duels and transitions.

Brentford could even have extended the margin further, with Igor Thiago failing to convert a penalty as the hosts continued to threaten.

The result gives Brentford an impressive opening-day victory and their first home league win over Tottenham since 1948.

For Spurs, however, the 3-0 defeat represents a damaging start to De Zerbi’s first full Premier League campaign in charge and immediately highlights the scale of the work still required despite significant summer investment.