Embarrassing Lucas Bergvall moment sums up Tottenham as second attacker suffers injury worry

football.london discusses five talking points as Spurs were held to a feisty 1-1 draw against Sunderland as the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Tottenham blew the chance to win their first home game of 2026 after Brian Brobbey struck late in the second half to earn the Black Cats a point.

Spurs led for 50 minutes after taking the lead on the half-hour mark through Ben Davies but they collapsed 10 minutes from time amid strong pressure from the visitors.

The result leaves Tottenham floundering in the bottom half of the table and while they're now unbeaten in three matches, there's little to be positive about when assessing Thomas Frank's prospects heading into the rest of a packed January schedule.

Here are five talking points as the two sides shared the points at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Embarrassing Bergvall moment

As Tottenham chased a winner in added time, one particular moment summed up Spurs' despair.

Lucas Bergvall went to launch a long throw into the box but his hands were likely to cold, he slipped, fumbling the ball.

Stuart Attwell had no sympathy, however, awarding a foul throw as Sunderland were handed a massive reprieve.

The incident is indicative of Tottenham's season because they are just not getting the rub of the green.

These kind of innocuous mistakes aren't helping either.

Johnson transfer call comes back to bite Spurs

How typical that 15 minutes into the post-Brennan Johnson era at Tottenham, the Welshman was suddenly sorely missed.

Mohammed Kudus picked up an adductor injury and was forced off, meaning Randal Kolo Muani had to play out of position on the right flank.

This game was made for Johnson, who made his Crystal Palace debut this afternoon at Newcastle.

Kudus' injury reiterated that Spurs' decision to sell Johnson was somewhat hasty.

To our knowledge, they don't have a replacement arriving imminently and the £35million fee received didn't appear to be subject to negotiation.

It felt needless to weaken Thomas Frank's squad without a natural replacement and if Kudus is set for a spell on the sidelines, Johnson undoubtedly would have been needed.

Dane Scarlett was sent on as Spurs chased a winner, highlighting the lack of attacking depth.

Worrying Romero

This was hardly a captain's performance from Cuti Romero, who looked shaky in the second half.

First he tried a loose pass backwards that was short and allowed Sunderland to break but thankfully it wasn't punished.

Then he was dragged into a physical duel with goalscorer Brian Brobbey and the pair were tit for tat following a heated incident off the ball.

On the evidence of the final 20 minutes, you'd have to say Brobbey got the better of him as Romero lost him for the equaliser.

Given he is Spurs' captain, you'd expect him to at least refrain from confrontation during a pivotal time in the game.

There's a firm argument that Romero's petulance and initial decision to rile Brobbey fired the former Ajax striker up and he exploded with rage in front of the home supporters after blasting in the leveller.

Davies proves worth

Davies might be out of contract in the summer but for now, he is definitely worth keeping around.

Not only is his experience invaluable on the training pitch and in the dressing room, he's also reliable at left-back in the absence of Destiny Udogie, who cannot stay fit.

The 32-year-old turned in his first Tottenham goal since December 2023 when he netted in a 4-2 defeat at Brighton for the opener, turning in Micky van de Ven's first-half shot.

With Udogie currently sidelined, it's imperative Spurs keep Davies fit to support Djed Spence, who has played a huge amount of football already this season.

Davies reportedly has interest from Nice and it's also been speculated he might eventually join Son Heung-min in Los Angeles.

Any deal must wait until the end of the season though as there's no point in offloading him for a small fee this month.

Outside of the goal, he left the forwards to attack and Spurs were very secure defending their left flank, which has not always been the case this season.

Odobert injury worry Wilson Odobert impressed for Spurs but he took a nasty whack to the head in the second half shortly before being substituted.

The Frenchman was jumping for a header when he was caught by the flailing elbow of ex-Tottenham academy graduate Romaine Mundle.

Tottenham's medical staff performed various tests on Odobert, including checking his jaw and vision before he was replaced by Lucas Bergvall.

He didn't appear to seriously hurt but then again, neither was Kolo Muani against Manchester United and he suffered a fractured jaw.