Late-stage drama has been a prominent factor behind the respective campaigns of Tottenham Hotspur and Luton Town, with the typical contrasting results coming into play when the teams clashed on Saturday afternoon.
Indeed, Heung-min Son bagged a late winner after Tottenham had fallen behind in the early stage, with the skipper’s deflected strike spinning a bleakly familiar narrative for the valiant Hatters on their first campaign back in England’s first division.
Ange Postecoglou’s side had restored parity early after the break after Issa Kabore turned into his own net following Brennan Johnson’s cross.
The Wales international was introduced after the break, and while Son took the limelight with his late winner, Johnson deserves all the plaudits for his difference-making display.
Brennan Johnson’s performance vs Luton
Son bagged to take his seasonal tally up to 15 goals and eight assists from 26 Premier League appearances, taking Harry Kane’s mantle as the club’s talisman with resounding success this year.
The South Korean star was the man to initiate the late winner, but it was Johnson who cleverly crafted a pass to set his skipper on his way.
Signed from Nottingham Forest for £47.5m last summer, Johnson has now chalked up four goals and seven assists from just 15 top-flight starts in a Lilywhite shirt, really turning the tide after replacing Dejan Kulusevski at half-time.
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Brennan Johnson: Stats vs Luton Town |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat |
# |
|
Minutes played |
45′ |
|
Assists |
1 |
|
Touches |
29 |
|
Accurate passes |
15/21 (71%) |
|
Key passes |
3 |
|
Duels won |
2/3 |
|
Tackles |
1 |
|
Stats via Sofascore |
|
Kulusevski has so often been essential to Tottenham’s performance this season but Johnson might just have played himself into his teammates’ position, influential yet again.
Dejan Kulusevski must be ruthlessly dropped
Kulusevski has been a key component of Tottenham’s efforts this term but he faltered against Luton, and after being hooked for Johnson at half-time, Postecoglou clearly played the right move given the Welshman’s influential moments.
As per Sofascore, Kulusevski took 32 touches across his 45 minutes of action but completed just 67% of his passes – albeit making three key passes for his peers.
The Sweden international also won just three of his eight contested duels, was dribbled past and failed to make a single dribble himself, but he was wasteful and ineffective on too many occasions and will be displeased with his effort.
Football.london correspondent Alasdair Gold was particularly scathing in his post-match comments, branding Kulusevski with a 4/10 match rating and writing: ‘A poor pass in a great position early on set Luton away for their early goal. Did play Werner through with a good pass about 10 minutes later and played Son through to hit both posts, but his passing was otherwise off though and he did not reappear for the second half.’
While the one-time Parma man has received much praise this season for his energy and enthusiasm, even described as the “engine” of Postecoglou’s system by Sky Sports reporter Jamie Weir, it’s hard to ignore Johnson’s continual impactful performances right now.
The shrewd recruitment since the end of last season enables Postecoglou to bench such a player as Kulusevski – who is considered Tottenham’s most valuable player by CIES Football Observatory.
Luton are deceptively tricky customers and Spurs should be delighted with a hard-fought victory to continue the fight for Champions League football.
Kulusevski has been integral this season, but he’s fallen from form and Johnson must now be provided with centre stage. He’s really starting to come into his own.
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