Brennan Johnson, the ugly duckling of Tottenham Hotspur, has been reborn as a swan.
Johnson has scored in all games while Tottenham has won five consecutive games. In particular, whenever Tottenham needs to score, it is enough to give Johnson the title of Tottenham's emerging ace.
Tottenham, a Premier League (PL) club led by coach Anji Postecoglou, won 2-1 in the second round of the UEFA Europa League phase in 2024-25 season against Ferencvaros at the Groupama Arena in Budapest, Hungary, on the 4th.
Tottenham, which is trying to win the Europa League title this season, has become third in the league table after winning two consecutive Europa League titles following the first round against Garabakh FK (Azerbaijan), increasing its chances of going straight to the tournament. In the Europa League, which has changed its way of proceeding since this season, only top eight players can advance to the tournament without going through the playoffs.
Tottenham, which went on an away trip to Hungary with captain Son Heung-min, who suffered a thigh injury in the last match against Garabakh, remained in London for rehabilitation, formed a starting list centered on young players. Yang Min-hyuk (Kangwon FC), who is about to join Tottenham, Lucas Veribal and Archie Gray, who were born in 2006, as well as Will Rankshire, who was born in 2005, and Mikey Moore, who were born in 2007, drew attention.
Inexperienced Tottenham gave up the lead to Ferencvaros early in the first half. They allowed Ferencvaros' main gun, Bernabash Berger, to shoot just four minutes into the first half. Fortunately, Berger's shot turned away from Tottenham's goal.
In the 16th minute of the first half, Berger connected Traore's cross with a header to shake Tottenham's net, but fortunately, an offside foul was declared and the score was not recognized for Tottenham. Berger also aimed for Tottenham's goal with a threatening header in the 18th minute of the first half, but this time he was blocked by Guglielmo Vicario's good defense.
Tottenham, who overcame several crises in the early stages of the game, scored the first goal after counterattacking from the middle of the first half. In the 23rd minute of the first half, Moore's ball passed the Ferencvaros defenders and went to Pape Sarr, who tied it with a calm shot. It was a scene of the first goal that featured the performance of 17-year-old striker Moore, who played as a wing forward.
Tottenham allowed several attacks on Ferencvaros afterwards, but they were able to finish the first half 1-0 with Moore and Sarr's joint first goal.
The second half was similar to the first half. Tottenham seemed to give up the lead in the early stages, but as time passed, it set the flow of the game.
Tottenham overcame the crisis in the third minute of the second half when Saldaña attempted a sharp left-footed shot, but Vicario blocked it, and counterattacked with a header shot by vice-captain Christian Romero in the eighth minute of the second half. In the 11th minute of the second half, even Rankshire's shot was missed, swallowing the disappointment.
Since then, Tottenham has made changes by bringing in young players and putting in a large number of key players as Timo Werner, who took the opportunity to start instead of Son Heung-min, failed to make an additional goal, missing a decisive chance as he did in the Premier League match against Manchester United.
Rankshire and Beribal were replaced, and Werner, who did not perform well, also returned to the bench. James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, and Johnson were deployed on behalf of the three players.
Postecoglou's decision was effective. Johnson, who was replaced, scored a goal.
In the 40th minute of the second half, Johnson controlled Madison's ball in the penalty area and scored an additional goal with a left-footed shot that looked at the opposite side of the goal. Johnson's shot deflected off the post and went into the Ferencvaros goal.
Tottenham then gave up a chase goal to Berger, who threatened their goal throughout the game, but held on well with the rest of the time to secure a 2-1 victory.
Johnson, who led Tottenham to victory by scoring the winning goal whenever the team needed it, scored again on the day and opened the scoring in all games while Tottenham recently won five consecutive games.
Johnson played in the third round (32 strongest teams) of the Carabao Cup (League Cup) against Coventry City on the 19th of last month and scored a play-winning goal in the second half of extra time when the 1-1 balance was maintained. In the league match against Brentford, he also scored a come-from-behind winning goal in the 28th minute of the first half to lead Tottenham to a 3-1 victory.
Johnson, who also started against Garabag, scored the first winning goal in the 12th minute of the first half and was replaced at the beginning of the second half, and also shook the net in the third minute against Manchester United. Above all, it is encouraging that Johnson has scored four winning goals in the last five games.
Johnson's goal determination allowed Tottenham to win the last two games without Son Heung-min, who is in charge of scoring. Johnson, who entered Tottenham based on his performance in Nottingham Forest in the 2022-23 season but was criticized for failing to perform well last season, seems to have risen as Tottenham's new ace as he recently succeeded in reviving.
Postecoglou also praised Johnson.
"Johnson's condition is good and he's confident in himself," Postecoglou said in a post-match press conference. "It's true that all strikers get strength in scoring and assists, but I've told him before that Johnson is a fantastic person for us despite his record last season," adding that Johnson's performance was not surprising.
"I was curious why people criticized Johnson. If you compare his record with other wingers in the league, Johnson's record was better. Johnson is not only affecting us now, but also changing our game," he said. "Once again, it's good for us because Johnson is still young, a player who wants to learn hard." 메이저놀이터