Another chorus of boos washed down from the steep stands inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Thomas Frank’s team dropped another two points.
Any hope of a clean break and a fresh start for home form was scuppered by Sunderland’s impressive fight back as tempers frayed in an ill-tempered second half.
Spurs had a decent first half and good chances on the break in the second but that was forgotten as they failed to hold out as the Wearsiders summoned a strong finish.
Daily Mail Sport’s Matt Barlow was in north London to witness all the action…
An unlikely goal hero
Ben Davies came in to start his first game of the season. The reasoning perhaps to give Djed Spence a breather and provide more defensive solidity behind Mathys Tel, who was brought in on the left wing as Frank tried to inject some creativity and goal threat into his team.
Thomas Frank’s Tottenham were held to a 1-1 draw against Sunderland on Sunday afternoon
Ben Davies was the unlikely goal hero and offered Tottenham another dimension in attack
There were early signs that with the experienced Wales international at left back Pedro Porro would have more scope to get forward and make the most of his excellent delivery from wide areas. There was a good example when the game was goalless and Porro whipped a cross to the back post where Nordi Mukiele did well to beat Richarlison and clear.
But it was a surprise when Davies emerged with his fist in the air from a set piece on the half hour poorly defended by Sunderland. Cristian Romero had time to bring Tel’s corner down on his chest at the back post and pick out Micky van de Ven, whose low shot was diverted into the net by Davies, from three yards with the inside of his left foot.
It was his 8th Premier League goal in 11-and-a-half years at Spurs and his first since one in a madcap defeat at Brighton in December 2023.
Set-piece again ole ole
Spurs fans had fun with the tune they enjoyed singing about Brennan Johnson. They went for ‘Davies again ole ole’ and there were murmurings of an Arsenal favourites, ‘set piece again ole ole’ after their opener.
It was their 10th goal from a set piece in the Premier League this season and the ninth from a corner. Davies also had a header saved from Porro corner in the second half. Without the set pieces the Spurs threat would be minimised.
Kudus injury blow
If there was one player Frank did not want to see injured after selling Johnson to Crystal Palace it would have been Mohammed Kudus.
It was the summer arrival of Kudus for £55million from West Ham which effectively ended Johnson’s Spurs career, and it made sense for him to move on.
Mohammed Kudus was forced off in a devastating injury blow for Frank and Tottenham
But the game was just 18 minutes old when Kudus sank onto the turf injured. The medics came on and prodded at the thigh muscle of his left leg and walked him off.
Randal Kolo Muani came on to play wide on the right, but Frank is short of attacking options.
Long term absentees Dominic Solanke, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski are all out and Xavi Simons was serving the final game of a three-match ban. Lucas Bergvall was only fit enough for a cameo off the bench.
Rare chance for Tel
In his search for attacking fluency, Frank recalled Tel for his first start since October. Tel played off the left with Wilson Odobert in the number 10 role behind Richarlison. Tel and Odobert have a chemistry and they started brightly.
Tel had plenty of early touches, forced a save and curled a shot narrowly wide. After the Kudus injury, it left Spurs playing with a trio of forwards with only two Premier League goals between them this season, in support of centre forward Richarilson.
When Frank needed an attacking change after Sunderland’s equaliser it was the lesser spotted Dane Scarlett who came on. By the end of the game, they had Romero playing up front, again.
Black Cats stir eventually
Sunderland were passive in the first half when Trai Hume’s 25-yarder over was the only effort worthy of note. They managed two touches inside the Spurs penalty area before the interval, but improved in the second half.
It made for a better contest, with the home team resisting and threatening on the break before the visitors grew to dominate in the closing 20 minutes.
Brian Brobbey levelled for the Black Cats as Sunderland continued their fine start to the season
Guglielmo Vicario saved from Eliezer Mayenda and was grateful to Davies who hooked clear from his own goalmouth when the Spurs keeper misjudged a deep cross by Simon Adingra and Hume headed it back from deep.
Brobbey slammed a shot into the side netting after a careless pass by Romero. Enzo Le Fee headed against the post in the 80th minute. Spurs wobbled and could not hold out for their third clean sheet in eight days.
The visitors were worth the equaliser, fired by Brobbey from a sweet pass by Le Fee in the 80th minute. Spurs responded to the goal but they looked weary at the end.
