Brighton 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur. Brighton pulled off a remarkable comeback, overturning a two-goal deficit to beat Tottenham 3-2 in an exhilarating Premier League clash on the south coast.
Tottenham appeared to be cruising to their sixth consecutive win in all competitions as they took a commanding 2-0 lead after 37 minutes. Brennan Johnson opened the scoring with his sixth goal in as many games, timing his run perfectly to latch onto Dominic Solanke’s through ball before coolly finishing past Brighton keeper Bart Verbruggen.
Spurs doubled their advantage shortly after when James Maddison’s curled strike from outside the box found the back of the net. Although Verbruggen got both hands to the low shot, he couldn’t keep it out, leaving Brighton with a mountain to climb.
However, the Seagulls came out a different side in the second half, launching a thrilling fightback. Just three minutes after the restart, Kaoru Mitoma’s cross caused problems in the Tottenham box, and Destiny Udogie failed to clear the danger. This allowed Yankuba Minteh to pounce and slot home his first goal for Brighton since joining from Newcastle for £30 million.
Brighton continued to press, and Mitoma was at the heart of the action once again. In the 58th minute, he found Georginio Rutter, who skillfully twisted away from Micky van de Ven before firing a low shot past Guglielmo Vicario to level the score.
Rutter’s work wasn’t done yet. In the 74th minute, he chased down a loose ball near the byline, sliding in to whip a cross into the box. Danny Welbeck met the ball with a powerful downward header, securing the winner for Brighton and sending the home crowd into raptures.
Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou was visibly stunned at the final whistle, unable to fathom how his team had surrendered a match they had dominated for long stretches. “It’s a terrible loss for us – as bad as it gets,” said the Australian.
Tottenham had started the game in electric fashion and could have been ahead within the first minute when Timo Werner burst down the left, but his overhit cross to Johnson squandered the early opportunity. Maddison looked dangerous throughout the first half, and only a last-ditch block from Adam Webster, who later left the field with a hamstring injury, prevented him from scoring.
Spurs thought they had added a third when the ball deflected off Maddison and crossed the line, but a tight VAR decision ruled that Pedro Porro had been offside earlier in the play. Moments later, Brighton lost possession in midfield, allowing Solanke to thread a perfect pass for Johnson to score Tottenham’s opener.
Danny Welbeck came close to equalizing before Spurs doubled their lead, but his shot slid just wide. At that point, the game seemed to be over, with Tottenham in full control. However, Brighton’s stunning comeback marked the first time they had overturned a two-goal halftime deficit to win since December 2015, when they beat Charlton 3-2 in the Championship.
For Tottenham, this marks the 10th time they have lost a Premier League match after leading by two or more goals.
Udogie’s mishap early in the second half sparked Brighton’s belief, and the Seagulls grew in confidence from there. Verbruggen redeemed himself with some important saves, including a push over the bar from a deflected Lewis Dunk cross and a stop from Mitoma’s low shot. But it was Rutter who stole the show, scoring his second goal in two games and setting up the winner with his persistence and quality delivery for Welbeck’s header.
Under new manager Fabian Hurzeler, Brighton showed resilience and character to secure a famous victory, leaving Spurs shell-shocked and unable to explain how a match they once controlled slipped away.
source – BBC