Brighton and Hove Albion vs Tottenham Hotspur. Premier League.
Amex StadiumAttendance31,144.
Report and free highlights as Harry Kane makes Premier League history with his 95th goal in 139 away games; Cristian Romero also scored his first Tottenham goal to open the scoring at the Amex; Brighton have now lost their last six Premier League games
Thursday 17 March 2022 06:17, UK
Harry Kane became the Premier League's highest away goalscorer as Spurs kept their top-four hopes alive with a 2-0 win at Brighton.
The England striker was played through wonderfully by Rodrigo Bentancur just before the hour in a classic counter-attack. He slotted Spurs' second goal past Robert Sanchez as he broke yet another English top-flight record, scoring his 95th goal in just 139 away Premier League games.
Tottenham manager Antonio Conte told Sky Sports after the game: "It's an outstanding achievement for him, but we are talking about a world-class striker. I'm pleased because at the start of the season, it was a bit of a struggle and he didn't score a lot.
"But now he knows very well that with this team and with the way we are playing, in every game he has chances to score and for us to have a striker like him, makes us stronger.
"But at the same time, he is feeling is positive because he knows in every game, he will have one, two or three chances to improve this record."
It was tinged with controversy though as VAR checked it for offside - although Kane was clearly on - with Brighton feeling aggrieved that they had not been awarded a penalty for handball just before.
However, VAR deemed that Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was too close to the ball when it hit him to be deemed enough for a penalty.
Tottenham had gone ahead just before half-time in what had been a quiet first half with a few bizarre moments littered throughout. Heung-Min Son laid the ball off for Dejan Kulusevski and his low effort through a packed area deflecting off Cristian Romero and firing past a rooted Sanchez.
Despite knowing little about it, the goal was Romero's first for the club since joining in August.
Kulusevski could have made it two shortly after as well as he pounced on an error from Shane Duffy, but Sanchez was out quickly to smother the Swede's effort.
However, the Brighton goalkeeper was almost made to pay for a clanger early on. He came well out of his box to clear a back pass, but Harry Kane was lurking. Sanchez's attempt hit Kane before the striker chased down the loose ball with the open goal at his mercy. But on a tight angle, he flashed his effort through the six-yard box and wide.
At the other end, Bentancur almost handed Brighton a gift of an opener too. He blasted the ball towards his own goal from 35 yards out as he attempted to challenge a Brighton player, but it looped safely onto the top of Hugo Lloris' goal for an ultimately unthreatening corner.
Brighton's best chances of their own making came in a fast start to the second half. Inside two minutes, Marc Cucurella's fierce cross was just too far ahead of the incoming Alexis Mac Allister. Duffy then tried to nod a Pascal Gross corner goalwards, but Lloris collected.
After Kane's goal, there were a few more half chances for Brighton. Cucurella sent in another fizzing ross from the left, but there was no one to turn home again. Then, Neal Maupay dallied too long inside the area as Spurs managed to clear. There were again penalty shouts as the Brighton striker ended up splayed on the floor, but again nothing was given.
Kane almost made it three late on too as he squared up against Sanchez once again, but his shot this time was palmed away by the leaping Brighton goalkeeper.
The victory sees Spurs up into seventh, three points from Arsenal in fourth - who lost 2-0 to Liverpool on Wednesday. Brighton ended the game with no shots on target and their sixth successive Premier League defeat, remaining in 13th place.
After an exuberant celebration from the Spurs fans behind the goal, Kane had an emphatic bottle-kicking moment as he marked his goal.
Tottenham manager Antonio Conte to Sky Sports:
"I'm very pleased for a good performance because we got three points. In this final part of the season, it becomes vital to win games, to get three points and also because we want to stay very close to the top of the table until the end to try to see what happens.
"Tonight, it wasn't easy because we played against a really good team and they played very well. In my opinion, we are playing very well, we're improving with the ball and tonight also, we showed the solidity defensively and we created many chances to improve the final result.
"A lot of positive things, but from tomorrow, we have to start to think of Sunday. It is very important against an opponent in West Ham that has the same target.
"It's important for us to have a target [of the top four] because if we have a target - also a high target - you show ambition. I think my teams need to have ambition and also to try to reach a target that in this moment is very difficult to reach, but we have to try.
"We know there are ten games before we finish the season and there are 30 points and we'll try every game to get three points. For sure, I am pleased because I am seeing my team improve a lot."
Brighton manager Graham Potter to Sky Sports:
"It was a tough evening. I feel for the players, they're suffering at the moment. The effort is there completely, they gave everything.
"It was quite an even game up until they scored and then we made one more mistake for a chance for them, but apart from that, I thought it was even.
"We responded really well at half-time, pushed them back for the first 10 or 15 minutes of the second half. Then they scored again off a transition and it was very difficult for us. The boys kept going all the way and when you're pushing a team like Tottenham with the attacking players they have, you always leave yourselves vulnerable, but I thought the boys gave everything.
"It's a concern [losing six Premier League games in a row] and it's something we have to do better with… We tried but the quality was the difference."
Another top performance from the Spurs striker, who is flourishing under Antonio Conte. Of course, there was the history-making goal and he topped the charts in a number of attacking areas, including shots (6) and touches in the opposition box (7).
But he also made the most dribbles (5) and was involved in 14 duels as he continues to write his name in the history books.
Brighton are out of action until next month, with Saturday's intended opponents Man City in action in the FA Cup. Their next game is against Norwich, who visit the Amex Stadium on April 2, kick-off at 3pm. They then travel to Arsenal the following week on April 9; kick-off at 3pm.
Tottenham are live on Sky Sports this weekend when they travel to West Ham on Super Sunday, live on Sky Sports Premier League from 4pm; kick-off at 4.30pm. They're back on the box when they host Newcastle after the international break too, also on Super Sunday live on Sky Sports Premier League on April 3 from 4pm; kick-off at 4.30pm.
