Brentford dismantled Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday, handing Roberto De Zerbi’s expensively rebuilt side a humiliating start to the new Premier League season. 

Goals from Keane Lewis-Potter, Vitaly Janelt and Michael Kayode gave Keith Andrews’ Bees a commanding and fully deserved victory that exposed familiar defensive frailties in the visitors.

The home side set the tone from the first whistle. Just 12 minutes in, new midfielder Mamadou Sangaré exchanged passes on the edge of the box, burst to the byline and cut the ball back for an unmarked Lewis-Potter to side-foot home.

Tottenham looked disjointed and struggled to string passes together. Their misery deepened in the 33rd minute when Richarlison lost possession cheaply. Mathias Jensen’s long-range effort was only parried by goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, and Janelt tapped in from close range to make it 2-0.

De Zerbi made a double change at half-time, introducing expensive summer signing Mateus Fernandes, but the second half began even worse for Spurs. Four minutes after the restart, Nathan Collins headed a corner into the path of Sangaré. Kinsky could only parry the midfielder’s fierce volley, and Kayode smashed home the rebound. Brentford were awarded a penalty shortly afterwards when Kevin Schade was fouled, but Igor Thiago struck the post.

The statistics underlined Brentford’s dominance. The Bees generated 3.96 expected goals to Tottenham’s meagre 0.47 and outshot their neighbours 26-9. Sangaré, making his Premier League debut after arriving as a club-record signing, controlled midfield and created the opening goal.

Spurs, who have spent heavily this summer after last season’s relegation scare, offered almost nothing in attack and failed to register a first-half shot on target.

Andrews was delighted with the performance, praising his side’s energy, organisation and clinical finishing. De Zerbi admitted his players were not ready to compete physically and failed to win enough duels. The result extends Brentford’s strong record in opening home league fixtures and leaves Tottenham with plenty of work to do if they are to turn their big-money rebuild into results.

Brentford travel to Leeds next, while Tottenham must quickly find answers before their next fixture. For now, the Bees have made the loudest statement of the opening weekend.

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