Solanke and Johnson ease Tottenham's worries in comeback win over Brentford | Premier League

As the late summer sun set over Tottenham's symbolic golden rooster, even determined manager Ange Postecoglou could bask in the warmth and support of a fanbase that had been highly critical of the club's flawed start to the season.

A win for enterprising Spurs, who secured the three points thanks to goals from Dominic Solanke – his first for the club -, Brennan Johnson and James Maddison. It was an afternoon of character from the hosts, who responded eagerly after conceding when Bryan Mbeumo put Brentford ahead after a minute.

This show of strength should strengthen the fans' confidence in their coach, who immediately expressed his appreciation at the climax of the match.

In a testy warm-up, Postecoglou emphasised the bigger picture, recommending yoga sessions for overzealous fans who were concerned about four points from four Premier League games ahead of a very timely victory. This, coupled with a dramatic escape at Coventry last Wednesday in the Carabao Cup, after the obvious disappointment of the home defeat to Arsenal, the thornier questions against Brentford were answered.

These included a perceived lack of organisation at set pieces and a frustrating lack of finishing in the final third, the latter aspect remedied by well-taken goals from Johnson and Maddison in particular, with the club's record signing Solanke scoring his first goal.

Postecoglou's team applied extreme pressure and forced Brentford to make mistakes on a regular basis.

After recovering from the shock of conceding a goal just 22 seconds later, when Mbeumo volleyed into the roof of the net from a Keane Lewis-Potter cross, Maddison latched onto an uncharacteristically errant pass from Ethan Pinnock in the Brentford penalty area. The midfielder's shot was only parried by visiting goalkeeper Mark Flekken and a grateful Solanke slotted the ball home.

Spurs scored a second goal when Heung-min Son played a pass to Johnson, who gained a yard of space to fire Nathan Collins into the corner of the Brentford net from a tight angle.

With six minutes left, the ever-influential Son surprised Brentford with a pass to Maddison, who spectacularly fired the ball over Flekken.

“It wasn’t an ideal start, but we knew Brentford would be quite aggressive,” said Postecoglou.

“We love this part of the game and we brought that intensity and energy and caused them a lot of problems. We absolutely deserved the win. Everyone really contributed to a strong performance.”

Brentford head coach Frank was singled out for particular praise by the wise Pep Guardiola last weekend as the Bees came close to catching champions Manchester City. Indeed, Frank's recent off-the-cuff admission that he is capable of coaching any club in the world is indicative of a stirring, quiet ambition in the likeable Dane.

Although some key players such as Yoane Wissa, Rico Henry, Igor Thiago and Mathias Jensen cannot play in his preferred lineup, he is also a realist. They have their theoretically more difficult games behind them, having already visited Liverpool and Manchester City. Despite this defeat, there is still much to admire about Brentford's intentions.

“I saw a very good Spurs team playing very well,” said Frank, who was booked for protesting against an alleged handball by home goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario outside the penalty area. “We started fantastically, then Tottenham were on top.”

“We had four great chances to equalize. We go to every away stadium and try to win. We played against a team that was in top form and we had five very experienced players on the pitch. That's just a perspective, not a moan.”

Tottenham fans were quick to applaud Johnson, who closed his Instagram account following abuse on social media, who followed up a late winner in the Carabao Cup against Coventry with a superb performance here, partnering Solanke up front – a performance that shows promise.

“Brennan works really hard for our team and is an important part of our club,” said Postecoglou. “You can see how much he cares about things. Every footballer goes through difficult moments and that gives you a new perspective. He knows what is important to him.”

For Postecoglou, too, it was a day of relief – with or without yoga – where you can feel that Tottenham can now really look forward.