Premier League: Brighton 3 Tottenham Hotspur 2
Ange Postecoglou wore the thousand-yard stare. The game had felt over at half-time, his Tottenham team two goals to the good, en route surely to a sixth straight win in all competitions. Now the manager stood motionless on the touchline, hands buried deep into coat pockets, struggling to process what had happened. Which was an astonishing Brighton comeback, one that saw them bounce up from the canvas and surge into the lead just after the hour. They would not relinquish it, the home support celebrating wildly at full-time.
There was an uncomfortable spotlight on the Spurs defending, with Destiny Udogie enduring a personal nightmare, culpable to varying degrees on all three goals. Yet he was not alone. Micky van de Ven, for example, will not enjoy the inquest into his role on the first two, which were scored by Yankuba Minteh and Georginio Rutter. Ditto Rodrigo Bentancur on what proved to be the winner, headed home by Danny Welbeck.
Credit to Fabian Hürzeler, the Brighton manager, who made a key substitution at the interval, replacing Ferdi Kadioglu – who had endured a torrid time at left-back – with Pervis Estupiñán. And to every player in blue and white. They refused to accept that defeat was their destiny. Kaoru Mitoma was the spark and Brighton were able to clamber above Spurs and back up to the heady heights of sixth in the table.
Earlier in the year, when Hürzeler was in charge at St Pauli, Postecoglou had invited him to Spurs to share some of his knowledge. There are certain parallels between how both men see the game. “If someone knocks on your door and wants a cuppa, let them in your house,” Postecoglou said on Friday. “He’s not going to take your furniture or steal your cutlery.” Here, Hurzeler plundered extensively. Brighton’s £150m summer squad rebuild has its latest dividend.
Tottenham’s start had been blistering, their control of the first half almost total. There were just 16 seconds on the clock when Dominic Solanke sent Timo Werner haring clear up the inside left and if that had a familiar outcome for the travelling Spurs support, the winger overhitting his low cross with Brennan Johnson free in front of goal, it certainly set the tone.
The visitors looked ready to blow Brighton away, pressing high and aggressively, and forcing turnovers in dangerous areas. Werner’s pace was too much for Joel Veltman while on the other side, Dejan Kulusevski was irrepressible in his inside-forward role, surging up and down. Spurs thought they had scored before they actually did, James Maddison smuggling the ball over the line after a Werner header had sparked chaos in the Brighton box, only for the VAR to spot Pedro Porro was offside before he crossed.
Spurs did not blink and they were in front moments later. Brighton wanted to play out, as always, but Postecoglou’s team did not let them, Udogie and Maddison combining to rob Rutter. From there, it was Solanke to Johnson, who swept home a low first-time finish. The biggest compliment to pay the in-form winger was that the outcome was never in doubt. It was Johnson’s sixth goal in as many games.
Postecoglou’s side had created a clutch of decent openings in the first 10 minutes alone, Kulusevski and Maddison central to everything, and when the former sent Johnson through in the 43rd minute after a neat Solanke lay-off, a Brighton fan next to the press box summed things up. “It’s too easy,” he yelled. Johnson banged the shot over the crossbar.
By then it was already 2-0, though, the goal a handling disaster for Bart Verbruggen. Solanke led the break and when Werner pulled back, Maddison took a touch and sidefooted for the bottom corner. Verbruggen allowed the ball to squirm underneath him.
Brighton, who lost defender Adam Webster to an injury in the early running, barely contributed to the first half, save for a couple of Welbeck moments. He prodded wide from a Mitoma cross when he ought to have done better and also flashed a header wide. The second-half turnaround was remarkable.
Hürzeler’s decision to bring Estupiñán on revived his team up the left. Mitoma came alive, a blur of quick feet and direct running. By the hour mark, he had two assists and the game was level. The Japan international was virtually unplayable.
Brighton were aided and abetted by Spurs’s dismal defending. Van de Ven and Udogie both miskicked before Minteh spun to bury Mitoma’s cross and the Spurs pair were beaten too easily on the equaliser, Rutter swerving away from them and picking out the bottom corner. Estupiñán had been prominent in the build-up; Mitoma, too.
Mitoma had been denied by Guglielmo Vicario and there was an element of inevitability about the Brighton goal for 3-2, Udogie yet again at fault. Rutter got around him so easily but Bentancur had moved across to deal with the winger as the ball ran along the byline. Except he did not. Rutter slid in for the ball and his tackle became the perfect cross, Welbeck rising to nod past Vicario. Spurs had no way back. – Guardian
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