Athletic, tenacious and crisp in his passing: Sangaré stars against Spurs

Athletic, tenacious and crisp in his passing: Sangaré stars against Spurs

Brentford's summer buys settled in seamlessly as the Bees chalked up an excellent 3-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in their opening fixture of the 2026/27 season.

Club-record signing Mamadou Sangaré starred on his Premier League debut, while fellow summer arrivals Jaidon Anthony and Callum Wilson joined the fray as Keith Andrews' side kicked off the new campaign in impressive fashion.

Two goals up at the break thanks to strikes from Keane Lewis-Potter and Vitaly Janelt, Brentford added a third shortly after the restart when Michael Kayode blasted home from a corner.

The Bees could even afford the luxury of Igor Thiago's 55th-minute penalty hitting the post as they ran out comfortable winners.

It was a superb high-energy performance throughout, with Brentford's midfield trio of Sangaré , Mathias Jensen and Janelt setting the tone.

In his first competitive outing since joining the Bees from Ligue 1 side Lens, Sangaré oozed class during his 76 minutes on the field.

Athletic, tenacious and crisp in his passing, the Mali international earned glowing praise from his head coach afterwards.

"I really enjoyed his performance," remarked Andrews of Sangaré, who is likely to have played his way into plenty of Fantasy Football teams on the back of an outstanding debut.

The 24-year-old ranked highly across a range of defensive statistics in Ligue 1 last term and clocked up two tackles, two interceptions and two clearances on his Premier League bow.

That ability to win possession and use the ball intelligently persuaded the Bees to move for Sangaré in the summer, and on this evidence he offers plenty in attacking areas too.

Sangaré was heavily involved in two of Brentford's goals, laying on Lewis-Potter's opener with an inch-perfect pull-back after a fantastic one-two with Dango Ouattara, before firing in a fierce snapshot in the build-up to Kayode's goal.

Alongside Sangaré, Jensen and Janelt were equally impressive. Jensen's numbers at the end of last season placed him among the most creative midfielders in the English top flight, and the Dane's distribution was a cut above against Spurs.

No player on either side completed more key passes than Jensen (3), who also completed a staggering 96 per cent of his passes.

The scorer of the Bees' second goal, Janelt, delivered a colossal player-of-the-match display. The German dynamo won more tackles (4), made more interceptions (4) and swung in more accurate crosses (4) than any Brentford player, while the sight of Janelt tigerishly pressing in the dying minutes typified the hosts' collective intensity and work ethic.

There were also early signs of the added attacking options Andrews now has at his disposal. Former Burnley wide man Anthony was involved in a number of dangerous raids down the right, finishing with three key passes to his name, while Wilson looked sharp after replacing Thiago on 83 minutes.

Andrews was keen to stress afterwards that "nobody is going to get carried away", but Brentford can reflect on a dominant and professional start to the season before quickly turning their attention to Tuesday's trip to Birmingham City in the second round of the Carabao Cup.

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