Leandro Trosar’s excellent 90-minute final for Brighton in a 1-0 win over Tottenham secured a remarkable double in North London for the Seagulls, a week after they beat Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
Graham Potter’s team disappointed the Spurs throughout the competition, and then Trosar showed some skill in boxing to make room for Hugo Loris to grab Brighton’s first win at Tottenham since 1981.
The Spurs scored at least twice in each of their previous seven, but failed to strike a single goal in the 90th minute, with Hyung-Min Son being denied with excellent blocks by Joel Weltman and Trosar in the second half. No flight attendant who finished 90 minutes had fewer touches than the isolated Harry Kane (27).
Antonio Conte’s side entered the game hoping to win their fifth straight game and move six points away from rivals Arsenal in the fourth. However, Mikel Arteta’s team lost 1-0 to Southampton themselves and collided in sixth place, with Manchester United’s victory over Norwich making them now Spurs’ closest rivals three points behind.
Player rating
Tottenham: Loris (5), Romero (6), Dyer (5), Davis (6), Emerson (6), Hoyborg (6), Bentancourt (5), Regilon (6), Kulusewski (5), Kane (6), Son (6).
Subs: Moore (6), Wink (6), Bergwyn (N / A)
Brighton: Sanchez (6), Lampti (7), Weltman (7), Dunk (7), Cucurela (6), Gross (6), Mwepu (6), Bisuma (7), Caicedo (7), Trosar (8), Mac Alistair (6).
Subs: Welbeck (6), Lalana (6), March (N / A)
Match player: Leandro Trosar.
Tottenham’s intense race at Hotspur Stadium could have turned out very differently if referee Craig Pawson saw several cases differently in the first half. Dejan Kulusevski, shorter than his best, was lucky not to connect when he swung his elbow at Mark Kukurela – it would have won him more than the yellow he received.
Enoch Mwepu, meanwhile, was on a tightrope after entering the travel book for Sergio Regilon himself and escaping a second yellow, although he was penalized for a high shoe against Ben Davis and stepped on the feet of Pierre-Emile Hoyberg with an awkward challenge.
Team news
- Sergio Regilon won the battle with Ryan Sessegnon to replace the injured left-back Matt Doherty, the only Spurs change in the country he won at Aston Villa.
- Brighton also made a substitution, with Tariq Lampty replacing Danny Welbeck, who was eliminated on the bench.
But Brighton reached the halftime, where they replaced Mwepu, and at the end of another convincing 45 minutes after the break they found their moment of magic in the last minute through Trosar to achieve consecutive victories.
This is a famous turnaround from Brighton, who took just one point from their previous seven before going to Arsenal last Saturday, but always looked comfortable against the Spurs below par.
Image: Joel Weltman of Brighton and Harry Kane of Spurs fight for the ball
Weltman made a good shot at Harry Kane in the beginning, but Brighton had the best moments in the opening period, as the Dutch national team was rejected at the other end after Mwepu’s corner kick was blocked. Rodrigo Bentancourt then had to be sharp to prevent Alexis McAllister from turning from a corner.
After an unsuccessful end of the half, when the focus was on Kulusevski and Mwepu, Son seemed likely to break the deadlock for the hosts, but was denied twice within seven minutes before Bentancourt shot close to the side.
Image: The Brighton players celebrate the victory of Leandro Trosar in the 90th minute
However, Brighton continued to pose their own threat, with Mac Alistair shooting when well placed and Tariq Lampty shooting softly against Loris from a good position.
The impressive guests received their prize for pushing forward late when the Trossard mannequin made for Eric Dier and his shot flew past Lloris to strike another blow at the pursuing side of 4 from North London.
Conte: We are better than that; an important lesson
Tottenham boss Antonio Conte: “This is certainly not a good result for us. The lesson we can learn today is that there are matches in which if you can’t win, you won’t lose. It was very clear that today was not I understand that we want to try to take three points ahead of our other rivals in the Champions League, but sometimes we have to feel it.
“The match was very difficult, a tactical game on both sides. Brighton was very good at closing any space. We moved the ball slowly. We can do much better than today. Perhaps a fairer end result was a draw, but Brighton played a good game, well organized with a good manager. If you win against Arsenal and Tottenham as a guest, it means that the team is a good team. We started very slowly. I think we can do much better than we showed today. “
Potter: That was better than Arsenal’s victory!
Brighton boss Graham Potter: “I feel better than Arsenal. I thought the performance was a step forward. The players were amazing, with a pace of work and discipline. We had a good organization and attitude to run, defend and be brave. when we had the ball too.It wasn’t a game of breaking and grabbing.
“We played against a lot of world-class players and a team at a good time, so we had to be good today. 40 points with six games to go. Not so bad, considering it was Armageddon three games ago! It was only fair if we beat Arsenal; we must go to the Spurs and defeat them. “
Opta – Brighton stats back in shape
- Tottenham have lost three of their last six home games in the Premier League (W3), as many defeats as they have suffered in their previous 14 at home (W10 D1).
- Brighton have won consecutive away games for the first time since September 2021 and are now undefeated in a total of three Premier League games, winning the last two after losing each of the six before.
- Tottenham have failed to hit a single goal for the first time in their last 21 Premier League games since 7 November 2021 against Everton.
- Brighton is only the second team in Premier League history to win like Arsenal and Tottenham in consecutive Premier League games after Hull City in October 2008.
- Leandro Trosar of Brighton has scored six Premier League goals this season, his best comeback of the season, overshadowing the five he scored in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
- Brighton winger Leandro Trosar was the first winner in the 90th minute for Tottenham at home in the Premier League after Aiose Perez’s late strike for Newcastle in December 2015.
- Brighton captain Lewis Dunk made his 166th appearance in the Premier League, all of which had begun; only six outside players have better 100% starting numbers in the history of the race (Gareth Southgate tops 426/426, followed by Paul Ince, Des Walker, Gary Palister, Fabricio Koloccini and Stuart Pierce).
What next?
The Spurs head to Brentford for football on Saturday night at 5.30pm – live on the Sky Sports Premier League – while Brighton travel to the Manchester City league leaders on Wednesday at 8pm.
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