Tottenham’s disappointing campaign took another turn for the worse after Bryan Mbeumo’s second-half brace earned Brentford a fine 3-1 win at their London rivals.
Harry Kane’s early opener gave Spurs the perfect start in their bid to stay in the hunt for Europa League football, but the visitors turned the tables after the break with an impressive display.
Mbeumo has grabbed a quick shot to help fill the void left by Ivan Toney, who was handed an eight-month ban from all football activities by the FA for a betting breach on Thursday.
Yoane Wissa then sealed victory late on for Thomas Frank’s side as Spurs suffered their 14th defeat of the Premier League season and left the pitch with whistles after the next game with further chants for chairman Daniel Levy to leave the club.
Tottenham’s loss at Aston Villa last weekend added to the somber mood at the club, but the sun shone for this final home game of the season and Ryan Mason made changes.
Strikers Arnaut Danjuma and Dejan Kulusevski earned recalls, while a fit-again Yves Bissouma made his first start since January as Spurs’ incumbent head coach reverted to the 4-2-3-1 formation he used in 2021.
Chairman Levy used his program remarks to acknowledge the season’s struggles but promised to deliver “success on the pitch” after a chaotic campaign.
One of Levy’s many key decisions this summer – alongside the hiring of a new head coach and executive director of football – is to try and convince Kane to commit his long-term future to Spurs.
After eight minutes, Tottenham’s vice-captain gave another reminder of his importance.
Oliver Skipp, another academy graduate, won the free-kick from 25 yards and Kulusevski teed up Kane to curl over the wall and past David Raya for his 30th goal in all competitions.
It was the perfect start for the hosts and Son Heung-min was the next to go close but was denied by Raya after Kane’s pass.
Tottenham’s strong opening period was not enough to prevent the first round of ‘Levy out’ chants from the south stand with 23 minutes played to mark his years at the club.
A second goal for the visitors should have followed soon after, but Emerson Royal’s header was brilliantly saved by Rico Henry after good work from Kulusevski and Son.
Mathias Jensen put Brentford ahead minutes later, but Spurs remained in possession and Danjuma headed wide before Ben Mee thwarted Son with a crucial block.
Impressive in the number 10 role, Kulusevski finished the half with a firm effort near the post that Raya pushed over to ensure it remained 1-0 at the break.
Bees boss Frank had seen enough and introduced Mikkel Damsgaard for the second half, which paid off immediately.
It was Damsgaard who fed the ball to Yoane Wiss and he passed into the path of Mbeuma who cut in from the right and curled into the bottom corner to equalize in the 50th minute.
While Kane shone after another Kulusevski ball minutes later, Brentford had their stories now and grabbed a second with 62 on the clock.
Aaron Hickey played a great ball down the right and Mbeumo raced away and dribbled into space before side-footing into the bottom corner for his ninth goal of the campaign.
More chants followed for chairman Levy to leave the club, but only after Lucas Moura was introduced as a farewell.
Mason turned to Pedro Porro and Richarlison, with the latter having half-hearted penalty challenges waved away before Wiss grabbed the points.
Shandon Baptise robbed Skippo of the ball and Mbeumo kicked Wissa, who slotted in for his seventh goal of the season.
With nine minutes left in stoppage time, Raya made two excellent saves to deny Richarlison before the full-time whistle was met with boos ahead of chants urging Kane to stay on amid uncertainty over his long-term future.
