Spurs embarrassed by Brentford as Foden finally answers agonising Haaland question – 3pm Blackout | OneFootball

Brentford have leapfrogged Spurs in the table and been an example of how to respond to the vultures, while Phil Foden finally helped out Erling Haaland.

Andoni Iraola also proved he might not be ready to rise up the Premier League food chain just yet.

Brentford 3-1 Burnley: Bees’ brilliance continues with Spurs leapfrogged

And with that, only one of the vultures who tore Brentford to pieces in the summer sit above them in the Premier League table.

No matter how prolific Igor Thiago can be or as ludicrously good a fit as Keith Andrews is, that is unlikely to change. Arsenal are the best team in the country by quite some margin and former Bees captain Christian Norgaard has his own personal place on the Gunners’ bench.

But Arsenal will know not to underestimate Brentford and Andrews in the same way most of us did this summer when the two teams clash in midweek.

By dispatching Burnley in a game which saw no goals in the first 80 minutes, but four in the subsequent 19, Brentford jumped above Spurs and Manchester United having long since passed Newcastle.

The way they have sustained the loss of their manager, two top scorers and captain in one transfer window has been exceptional.

Burnley are the sort of side Brentford were supposed to be engaging with in their fight against relegation, yet they also represent the sort of opponent Andrews has stung most often. The Bees are one of the league’s best when facing teams in a bottom half they no longer occupy.

Manchester City 3-2 Leeds: Farke saves himself but Foden flips script back

In terms of Pepisms, “I have an incredible opinion of Daniel Farke. I have a really good relationship with him,” felt a little too on the nose.

When Manchester City scored within a minute, doubled their lead in the 25th and went in at half time having had 14 shots to two, it seemed positively parodic.

But Farke certainly threatened something “incredible” before a stirring comeback was ultimately shattered in stoppage time by a player experiencing his own resurgence.

Phil Foden scored in the first and 91st minutes to secure a victory which lifts Manchester City into second, but that tells barely half the story of how Guardiola’s side controlled, capitulated and then only just carried themselves through at the Etihad.

It is difficult to capture just how limp and uninspired Leeds were in the first half, nor their transformation in the second. Farke made two changes at half time and while Jaka Bijol helped shore up the defence, it was Dominic Calvert-Lewin who wreaked havoc at the other end.

The England striker capitalised on about three different individual mistakes from Matheus Nunes in one sequence to score, before winning a penalty Lukas Nmecha eventually converted after a save from Gianluigi Donnarumma.

The startling turnaround was summed up by Leeds having five shots to one from the start of the second half to the 70th minute; Manchester City were holding on and while they stabilised, Erling Haaland was still heading dangerous crosses clear with the scores level towards the end.

The Norwegian failed to score against his hometown club but Guardiola’s calls for someone else to emerge from Haaland’s shadow was finally answered when Foden took it upon himself to find a way through with a wonderful effort from the edge of a packed area.

Leeds deserved more based on their effort and determination in the second half. Foden, however, remains the sort of talent able to decide these games, despite providing little evidence of that for far too long.

With Thomas Frank struggling to make the step up from the Premier League’s overachieving mid-table into the elite, it will be interesting to see how that augurs for similar gambles.

Oliver Glasner, Fabian Hurzeler and Keith Andrews all deservedly reside in the top half currently, along with two managers whose credentials were both boosted and battered at the Stadium of Light.

For half an hour or so, this had all the hallmarks of a chastening afternoon for Regis Le Bris. In the soaking Wearside rain he witnessed a series of individual mistakes put Sunderland 2-0 down and in grave danger of losing their proud unbeaten home record.

It was an Andoni Iraola coaching masterclass, summed up by Bournemouth turning a Sunderland corner into their second goal within 16 seconds. Granit Xhaka played it short, Chemsdine Talbi played it shorter, and the Black Cats were pressed into oblivion before Tyler Adams lobbed Robin Roefs from within the centre circle.

That Sunderland were able to recover from that was a remarkable testament to their character – and Bournemouth’s capacity to collapse.

Enzo Le Fee halved the deficit with a ruthless penalty. Bertrand Traore wiped it out within a minute of the second half from Xhaka’s sumptuous reverse ball. And Brian Brobbey completed the comeback with yet more bench-based heroics; no player has contributed more goals as a substitute in the Premier League this season.

Le Bris has fostered an absurd mentality in this team, to the extent that Sunderland’s first ever Premier League win from two goals down does not come as a particular surprise for the side up in fourth.

Iraola, on the other hand, is a phenomenal manager whose shortcomings are still frequently exposed, as might be expected from an offshoot of the Mauricio Pochettino branch of the Marcelo Bielsa coaching tree.

Bournemouth’s Premier League games have involved 44 goals this season – at least two more than any other side. As outstanding as that is for the neutral, it is hard not to think that embracing the role of the modern entertainers will hold back both club and manager despite their ostensibly high ceilings.