Spurs Stunned by Brighton

Saturday 16th April 2022 - 12:30pm

Match Report

Tottenham Hotspur 0 – 1 Brighton & Hove Albion

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

Competition: English Premier League

"Pre-Match Thoughts – Another huge game in the race for top 4. This time it's Brighton, who did us a big favour by beating Arsenal last week. Prior to that they'd failed to win any of their previous seven matches, which included a 2-0 home defeat to Spurs in mid-March. We also knocked them out the FA Cup back in February. It leaves us looking at their poor form of late, our excellent form of late, our recent record against them, plus the fact we're at home, and thinking here comes another much welcomed Spurs win!

But we all know it's never that simple with Spurs, so the pessimism persists and the majority of us still go into it wary of a slip-up.

Doherty's unfortunate knee injury has ruled him out for the rest of the season, so Conte will have to adjust the side accordingly to fill the void at wing back, but even so, we have more than enough talent to crush Brighton and continue on this glorious run. I'm going 3-0 Spurs."

As expected, the only change to the line-up was Reguilón coming in for the injured Doherty.

It was a pretty tame opening fifteen minutes, with the fact Spurs won four corners in as many minutes being one of the only things of note. Unfortunately they couldn't capitalise on any of them.

22' The first decent chance fell Brighton's way, as Lamptey crossed in from the left, after a couple of headers it fell to Mwepu on the top of the box who struck it on the half-volley but Davies deflected it behind.

23' The corner resulted in another threatening shot at goal. This time Kane was there to block it in his own six yard box.

Nervy moments for Spurs.

27' Frustration began to shine through as Kulusevksi lashed out with an elbow on Cucurella. Thankfully he just missed the Brighton left-back which helped him get away with just a yellow, as it looked a moment of red mist from him.

"Thoughts at Half-Time – Maybe a touch of complacency has set into the Spurs ranks as it's been a poor first half from them. Any decent chances have fell Brighton's way and we've failed to get a hold on the game. Hopefully Conte works his magic in the dressing room and we emerge a different side in the second half."

58' Better from Spurs. Kane picked it up in the middle, he was fouled as he passed it forward but the ref played the advantage. Son was the receiver and laid it left to Højbjerg, who played it back inside to Son around the penalty spot. Under pressure he managed to squeeze the shot away, but there were too many Brighton bodies back and it was blocked.

64' Conte looked to inject a bit of urgency into the attack by bringing Moura on for Kulusevski.

72' A second change from Conte saw Bentancur make way for Winks.

...You know it's been a dull encounter when the substitutions are 'highlights'.

75' Moura pounced on possession on the top corner of the Brighton box. Højbjerg picked it up and drove to the byline before fizzing one low across goal. Reguilón came sliding in at the back post but was a fraction away from getting something on it.

90' Goal. The moment we feared was coming eventually arrived in the final minute of the ninety. Romero made a couple of tackles on the right side of the box, but both fell fortuitously to the feet of Brighton players. The second of those was Trossard, who dummied his way past Dier and nudged it past Lloris into the far corner with the outside of his boot. 1-0.

"Thoughts at Full-Time – There it is, the almost inevitable Spurs slip-up the second we find ourselves in the driving seat. An incredibly disappointing defeat. The goal-scoring machine appeared to have run out of gas today, as we failed to register a single shot on target. It was woeful all round and one we'll want to forget in a hurry. Let's hope they're back to their best next week."

Tottenham Player Ratings

• 1. Hugo Lloris – 6 – Didn't have much to do. Beaten from close range at the end.

• 4. Cristian Romero – 6 – Slack moment early on where he appeared too confident on the ball and gave it away, but he managed to scramble back to recover. Won the ball a good few times including a crucial header out of his six yard box in the last ten. Heeled the ball into the path of Trossard for the goal at the last as he tried to sweep it clear.

• 15. Eric Dier – 5 – Didn't let a whole lot through but was turned too easily for the goal.

• 33. Ben Davies– 5 – Made a good block in the first half and was relatively solid. Had a couple of nervy moments though, much like the whole team today.

• 12. Emerson Royal – 5 – Put in some decent tackles but couldn't provide anything going forward down the right side.

• 30. Rodrigo Bentancur – 5 – Sloppy with his passing at times and we really missed his composure and cutting balls forward from the middle of the park. Bissouma appeared to have gotten the best of him. Was given a yellow card in the first half which made him more tentative for the remainder of his time on the field.

• 5. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – 6 – Almost assisted Reguilón with some good work down the right side. Hassled and harried, but all in all, Brighton won the midfield battle today.

• 3. Sergio Reguilón – 4 – Had a quiet game. Didn't create much at all down the left side.

• 21. Dejan Kulusevski – 4 – Had a moment of madness where he saw red and was lucky not to be shown a card of the same colour after throwing out an elbow at Cucurella. Struggled to get into the game and eventually made way for Moura.

• 7. Son Heung-min – 5 – Barely involved, as was the case for most the Spurs side to be fair. Subbed off for Bergwijn for the final five,

• 10. Harry Kane – 5 – Nervy moments as the Brighton goalkeeper landed on his ankle and caused him to hobble around for a few minutes in the first half. Still lasted the ninety, but struggled to make an impact.

Substitutions:

• 21. Dejan Kulusevski ⬅ 64' ➡ 27. Lucas Moura – 4 – Couldn't seem to get a hold of the ball. Ran to the byline and crossed at one point but the Brighton keeper managed to dive on the ball to end any threat.

• 30. Rodrigo Bentancur ⬅ 72' ➡ 8. Harry Winks – 4 – Did nothing.

• 7. Son Heung-min ⬅ 88' ➡ 23. Steven Bergwijn – 4 – One big chance fell to him right after Brighton's goal, but he couldn't catch it right on the volley.

Man of the Match – 8. Yves Bissouma