Tottenham Hotspur squandered an important lead to lose 3-2 at Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday, ending their five-match winning streak in all competitions.
Spurs raced into a 2-0 lead through Brennan Johnson and James Maddison, but a second-half capitulation saw Yankuba Minteh, Georginio Rutter and Danny Welbeck all strike.
Spurs are ninth in the Premier League table, two points behind sixth-placed Brighton.
How the game developed
Tottenham were behind Brighton’s back line within 30 seconds, but Timo Werner put too much into his cross to prevent Johnson from opening the scoring. Maddison was played in soon after but Adam Webster bravely blocked his volley.
Spurs found space for their speedy wingers to enjoy and looked to have taken the lead when Maddison collected the ball after Bart Verbruggen saved from Werner, but the offside flag was raised and the decision upheld .
There was no doubt TottenhamHowever, the first goal came a few minutes later.
Destiny Udogie cut out Carlos Baleba’s possession, allowing Maddison to find Dominic Solanke, whose pass was accurate enough for Johnson to meet and sweep home the opener.
Brighton He needed to grow into the game after falling behind and he did, with Kaoru Mitoma looking menacing with his runs and dangerous deliveries. The Japan international picked out a sliding Welbeck, but the forward failed to make the right contact and the chance was called.
Unfortunately for the Seagulls, their keeper’s calamitous error made the mountain even steeper to climb.
A quick break culminated in Werner finding Maddison on the edge of the box. The 27-year-old’s shot was weak but Verbruggen ate it up, the ball bursting through his hands and in.
The hosts’ top line were caught out again moments before half-time when Johnson raced over, but this time the Welshman flashed his effort wide of the crossbar.
The visitors were well organized in the first half but had only themselves to blame as Brighton pulled one back early in the second period. Mitoma’s ball into the center was misjudged by Udogie who failed to clear effectively and instead allowed Minteh an easy shot at goal which he buried.
Albion were much sharper after the break, with Mitoma once again involved when he parried Guglielmo Vicario at his near post. The away defense was then left wide open as Brighton equalised.
Mitoma danced inside and found Rutter, who showed power to hold off Udogie and Micky van de Ven and find the opposite corner with his finish.
From the position of strength they boasted at half-time, Spurs somehow found it 3-2 in the 66th minute. Rutter kept the ball alive with a sliding cross for Welbeck, who had an easy header in Vicario to give the locals an advantage.
Both teams made substitutions as the visitors tried to get back into the game while Brighton looked to protect or extend their lead. However, the score was done for the day to cap off an awful afternoon for Ange Postecoglou and a brilliant one for Fabian Hurzeler.
GK: Bart Verbruggen – 4/10 – Couldn’t do much about Johnson’s first goal, but wouldn’t want to see the second goal again. Luckily, his colleagues rescued him.
RB: Joel Veltman – 6/10 – Engage in some fun but questionable diving antics with Maddison. Quick thinking helped Welbeck head home the winner.
CB: Adam Webster – N/A – Made a solid block early on, but then when he went down with an injury and had to be substituted.
CB: Lewis Dunk – 5/10 – Sometimes exposed by the high line used by his manager.
LB: Ferdi Kadioglu – 5/10 – Struggled to track Johnson and was sent off at half-time.
CM: Carlos Baleba – 6/10 – Lost possession as Spurs quickly countered to open the scoring. He recovered and was more consistent in the second half.
CM: Jack Hinshelwood – 6/10 – He ran obstinately into the heart of the midfield.
RW: I got hit by Minteh – 7/10 – Had a quiet opening on 45 minutes but was on the end of a cross to hit in the first Premier League target
AM: Georginio Rutter – 8/10 – He also had very little to do in the early going, but then came alive to get back level with his second goal in two games. He somehow kept the ball alive to set up Welbeck’s header.
LW: Kaoru Mitoma – 8/10 – He was a danger on the left, he gave Porro difficulties with his running, and he made some dangerous crosses. One of those deliveries eventually landed at Minteh’s feet to strike before he played Rutter to level.
ST: Danny Welbeck – 7/10 – Missed a very good chance in the first half but made up for it by putting Brighton ahead later on.
Substitutes
SUB: Igor (9′ by Webster) – 6/10 – He replaced Webster early on and was on the ropes from the 34th minute after taking on Kulusevski.
SUB: Pervis Estupinan (46′ from Kadioglu) – 6/10
SUB: Julio EncÃs (73′ for Rutter) – 6/10
SUB: Mats Wieffer (74′ for Baleba) – 6/10
SUB: Brajan Gruda (87′ for Minteh) – N/A
Subs not used: Jason Steele (GK), Tariq Lamptey, Yasin Ayari, Evan Ferguson.
manager
Fabian Hurzeler – 8/10 – Managed to turn things around after an awful first half, with his players responding to an impressive victory.
GK: Guglielmo Vicario – 5/10 – Made a couple of saves but couldn’t get close to any of Brighton’s attacks.
RB: Pedro Porro – 5/10 – Had a very rough evening dealing with Mitoma and his forays up front ultimately didn’t cancel out that weakness at the back.
CB: Cristian Romero – 5/10 – He was making great passes in the first half but he and his defense collapsed in the second half when put under pressure.
CB: Micky van de Ven – 5/10 – For someone with such ridiculous speed, Van de Ven was slow as Rutter went through the middle to equalise.
LB: Destiny Udogie – 4/10 – He made a hash of a clearance attempt that led to Minteh halving the deficit. He was later booked for a tackle.
CM: Dejan Kulusevski – 6/10 – He carried the ball so easily early on, but Brighton managed to calm him down as the game wore on.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur – 5/10 – Had some sloppy moments on the ball and then couldn’t contain the flooding attacks.
CM: James Maddison – 7/10 – He doubled his team’s lead with a shot that Verbruggen should have saved. His production became scarier as the Spurs began to struggle.
RW: Brennan Johnson – 7/10 – Showed his confidence boost by calmly finishing Solanke’s pass first time. He missed a good chance before the break and couldn’t get it going again.
ST: Dominic Solanke – 7/10 – Played a hand in both Spurs goals in the first half, sliding Johnson to open the scoring. Involved in all the good attacks of his team but could not get on the scoreboard.
LW: Timo Werner – 6/10 – Missed an assist in the first minute but later put Maddison up 2-0. His wastefulness didn’t matter at Old Trafford last week, but it cost him dearly at the AMEX.
Substitutes
SUB: Pape Matar Sarr (79′ for Werner) – 5/10
SUB: Yves Bissouma (79′ for Bentancur) – 5/10
SUB: Mikey Moore (85′ for Maddison) – N/A
Subs not used: Fraser Forster (GK), Archie Gray, Djed Spence, Radu Dragusin, Lucas Bergvall, Will Lankshear.
manager
Ange Postecoglou – 4/10 – He will not know how his side threw away his command position. A poor defensive display has ruined the good atmosphere that was being created at Spurs after five consecutive victories. He had little to fall back on on the bench.
