Tottenham’s top-four hopes suffered a setback as they were held to a goalless draw by Brentford, with Bees midfielder Christian Eriksen impressing against his former club.
The Denmark midfielder, facing Spurs for the first time since he left for Inter Milan in January 2020, was given a warm reception by players and fans before kick-off in west London.
He was central to much of Brentford’s attacking play, particularly from set pieces, and they were inches from a dramatic late winner when his added-time free-kick was headed onto a post by Ivan Toney.
Another Eriksen corner in the first half was also headed onto an upright by Toney, while Pontus Jansson’s header was cleared off the line by Harry Kane in the second half.
Tottenham, in contrast, failed to produce any clear-cut opportunities as they came up against a resilient Bees defence.
Kane went closest to snatching the points when his looping header went just wide with David Raya at full stretch.
Antonio Conte’s side are now two points behind Arsenal in fifth after their north London rivals beat Manchester United in Saturday’s early kick-off to move the Gunners into the final Champions League qualification position.
The draw moves Brentford above Brighton into 11th and onto 40 points, with the Bees now looking all but certain of Premier League survival.
Much of the pre-match focus was understandably on Eriksen as he continues his remarkable return to English football.
The 30-year-old, who made 305 appearances in a six-and-a-half year spell with Tottenham, was seen hugging some of his former team-mates in the tunnel before kick-off and was given a standing ovation by the Spurs fans when he went to take an early corner in front of the away section.
He was then given an equally raucous ovation by both sets of fans at full time and signed a Tottenham fans’ shirt which had his name on the back.
That contributed to a relaxed atmosphere on a sunny spring evening in west London, with Brentford going into the game 11 points clear of the bottom three and closing in on Premier League safety after a run of five wins from six games.
That revival owes a lot to the arrival of Eriksen, who had been on the winning side on all five of the games he had previously started for the club.
The winning run ended here, but it is still a valuable point that all but guarantees a second season in the Premier League.
With Eriksen’s short-term contract expiring at the end of the campaign, securing his long-term future is likely to be high on Thomas Frank’s to-do list as the Brentford boss begins his planning for next season.
-BBC
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