Three goals in eight minutes at the start of the second half turned the game in Tottenham Hotspur’s favour as Brentford fell to a narrow defeat in north London.
The Bees led at the interval thanks to Neal Maupay’s scrambled finish, but Spurs’ Destiny Udogie, Brennan Johnson and Richarlison all struck in a frantic period after the break.
Ivan Toney pulled one back following Udogie’s misjudged backpass, but the Bees couldn’t find an equaliser during the closing stages.
Brentford lead at the break thanks to Maupay's scrambled finish
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank made just one change to the side that beat Nottingham Forest 3-2 just over a week ago, as Christian Nørgaard replaced Mikkel Damsgaard in the starting XI. Toney and Maupay once again led the line for the Bees.
As for Tottenham, Oliver Skipp and James Maddison came in for Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Johnson, as Ange Postecoglu made two changes from Spurs' 1-0 FA Cup defeat to Manchester City on Friday.
Ethan Pinnock made two important interceptions and blocks inside the opening five minutes, as he cleared Timo Werner's cross from the byline, before he blocked a shot from Dejan Kulusevski inside the area.
Brentford had the ball in the back of the net with 12 minutes on the clock, as Keane Lewis-Potter's driving run and pass found Mathias Jensen in the final third, before the Dane fed the ball to Mads Roerslev. The wing-back struck a lovely finish into the far corner, but the assistant's flag was raised, with Jensen adjudged to be offside earlier in the move.
But the Bees took the lead just moments later when Toney, this time, found himself in behind Spurs' high line and, when his powerful effort could only be beaten away by goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, Maupay was there to bundle the ball across the line.
Werner had a good opportunity to equalise on 20 minutes, when a Spurs corner was whipped in and wasn't cleared. The German forward managed to get himself on the end of it but, with the goal at his mercy at the back post, headed wide.
Richarlison was next to take aim, and most supporters inside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium believed he had made it 1-1. The Brazil international picked up the ball on the edge of the area and whipped an effort towards the far post, but it went narrowly wide, hitting the post behind Mark Flekken's goal.
After being at his brilliant defensive best at one end, Pinnock almost pulled off the audacious at the other. A corner was cleared back to Jensen, his sumptuous cross caused havoc and, when it fell to the centre-back, his backheel missed by just a few inches.
Three goals in eight minutes swings game in Spurs' favour
Tottenham quickly turned the game around at the start of the second half.
Udogie powered through from full-back, into midfield, and then into the final third - exchanging passes with Werner. His effort on goal was blocked by Pinnock and, unfortunately, the ball dropped straight back to the defender, who had the simple job of finishing from close range.
Less than 60 seconds later, Johnson put Spurs ahead. A counter attack, led by Werner, saw him play the ball across to the Wales international, who was left with the easiest of finishes into an empty net.
It was 3-1 on 56 minutes, when Richarlison found the back of the net. Spurs' intense second-half pressure paid dividends when Maddison's effort was deflected into his team-mate's path, who drove home from inside the six-yard box.
Toney did his best to try and reduce the deficit, as he received the ball from Lewis-Potter on the edge of the area, but he arrowed a shot just wide of the post.
And the centre-forward had another big chance just moments after, when he picked up the ball inside the area, beat multiple defenders and the goalkeeper, but rolled narrowly past the woodwork.
But Toney did get his goal on 67 minutes when, after slowly limping back to the halfway line, way behind play, he was gifted the ball by Udogie, who tried to go back to his keeper but passed it straight to the Bees centre-forward. Toney kept his composure brilliantly and, after a brief stutter, calmly finished into the bottom corner.
A tight end to proceedings finished with one last chance for Brentford. Some superb work from Josh Dasilva on the right saw him find Shandon Baptiste 10 yards from goal, but the midfielder's first-time volley was too high and tipped over by Vicario.
Tottenham: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Bentancur (Højbjerg 46), Skipp (Johnson 46), Kulusevski, Maddison (Drăgușin 88), Werner (Donley 90+2), Richarlison
Subs not used: Forster, Davies, Royal, Gil, Scarlett
Brentford: Flekken, Collins (Ajer 78), Pinnock, Mee, Roerslev (Dasilva 78), Jensen (Yarmoliuk 57), Nørgaard, Janelt (Damsgaard 88), Lewis-Potter (Baptiste 88), Maupay, Toney
Subs not used: Strakosha, Zanka, Fredrick, Brierley
Attendance: 61,210
Frank: ‘10-minute blackout’ cost Brentford
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank rued a “10-minute blackout” at the beginning of the second half that saw Tottenham Hotspur turn the game in their favour.
“Second half, we had a 10-minute blackout. We can’t win a game when we concede three goals in the way we did," said Frank.
“Of course, two of the goals are a bit unlucky in terms of ricochets – the first and the third.
“But the second one can’t happen; you can’t concede at the kick-off again.
“But after that we grew into the game again, scored a 2-3 goal and had chances and opportunities.
“Tottenham changed to a back five, which was the right decision, but I haven’t seen them to that this season. That’s the respect they showed us, which is fine, but it didn’t give us any points.”
Nørgaard: Spurs defeat hard to explain
Brentford captain Christian Nørgaard has detailed the Bees' defeat, as he returned to the starting XI in north London.
The midfielder, who hasn't featured since the end of December but played 90 minutes on Wednesday, said: “Except for the first 15 minutes of the second half, it was a really good game from us today.
“But that's the headline: that blackout at the start of the second half. Unfortunately, it's not the first time we’ve had that this season, so it's something to speak about tomorrow, that's for sure.”
He added: “It’s hard to explain. Once the first goal happens, and you concede a bit unluckily as well, that's where you've got to be better. And I have a big responsibility as well, as captain, to try and get the team together.
"Even though they scored three within the space of 10 minutes, we still managed to come back and could have had a point today.”