Tottenham Hotspur vs Brighton and Hove Albion. Premier League.
Tottenham Hotspur StadiumAttendance58,685.
Match report as Leandro Trossard pokes home in the 90th minute to make it back-to-back wins for Brighton; Tottenham miss chance to move six points clear in fourth; first time a team has won against Arsenal and Spurs in consecutive weeks since Hull in 2008
Saturday 16 April 2022 21:15, UK
Leandro Trossard's excellent 90th-minute finish for Brighton in a 1-0 win at Tottenham secured a remarkable north London double for the Seagulls, a week after they beat Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
Graham Potter's side frustrated Spurs throughout the contest and then Trossard showed some skill in the box to make room to prod past Hugo Lloris to grab Brighton's first win at Tottenham since 1981.
Spurs had scored at least twice in each of their previous seven but failed to have a single shot on target over the 90 minutes, with Heung-Min Son denied by excellent blocks from Joel Veltman and Trossard in the second half. No outfield starter who completed 90 minutes had fewer touches than isolated Harry Kane (27).
Antonio Conte's team had gone into the game hoping to win their fifth match in a row and move six points clear of rivals Arsenal in fourth. However, Mikel Arteta's side lost 1-0 to Southampton themselves and were bumped into sixth place, with Manchester United's win against Norwich making them now Spurs' nearest challengers, three points back.
The tight contest at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium could have played out quite differently had referee Craig Pawson seen a couple of instances differently in the first half. A below-his-best Dejan Kulusevski was fortunate not to connect when he swung an elbow at Marc Cucurella - that would have earned him more than the yellow he received.
Meanwhile, Enock Mwepu was walking a tightrope after going into the book himself for a trip on Sergio Reguilon and escaped a second yellow despite being penalised for a high boot against Ben Davies and stepping on Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's foot with a clumsy challenge.
But Brighton got to half-time, where they replaced Mwepu, and at the end of another convincing 45 minutes after the break they found their moment of magic in the final minute through Trossard to make it back-to-back wins.
It is some turnaround from Brighton, who had taken just one point from their previous seven before going to Arsenal last Saturday but they always looked comfortable against a below-par Spurs.
Veltman made a good tackle on Harry Kane early on but Brighton had the best moments in the opening period, with the Netherlands international himself denied at the other end after Mwepu's shot from a corner was blocked. Rodrigo Bentancur then had to be sharp to prevent Alexis Mac Allister turning in from a flicked-on corner.
After a scrappy end to the half, when the focus was on Kulusevski and Mwepu, Son looked the most likely to break the deadlock for the hosts but was twice denied in the space of seven minutes before Bentancur shot narrowly wide.
However, Brighton continued to pose a threat of their own, with Mac Allister shooting over when well placed and Tariq Lamptey firing a tame one at Lloris from a good position.
The impressive visitors got their reward for pushing forwards late on when Trossard's dummy did for Eric Dier and his poked finish flew past Lloris to deal another blow to a top-four chasing side from north London.
Tottenham boss Antonio Conte: "For sure it's not a good result for us. A lesson we can learn today is that there are games that if you're not able to win, you're not to lose. It was very clear that today wasn't our day. I understand we want to try to get three points before our other rivals for the race for the Champions League but sometimes we need to feel.
"The game was very difficult, a tactical game from both sides. Brighton were very good to close every space. We moved the ball slowly. We are able to do much better than today. Maybe a more fair final result was a draw but Brighton played a good game, well organised with a good manager. If you win against Arsenal and Tottenham away it means the team is a good team. We started very slowly. In my opinion we can do much better than we showed today."
Brighton boss Graham Potter: "It feels better than Arsenal. I thought the performance was a step up. The players were incredible, with work rate and discipline. We had good organisation and attitude to run and defend and be brave when we had the ball as well. It wasn't a smash and grab game.
"We were playing against a lot of world class players and a team in a good moment 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 have to go to Spurs and beat them."
Spurs head to Brentford for the Saturday Night Football at 5.30pm - live on Sky Sports Premier League - while Brighton travel to league leaders Manchester City on Wednesday at 8pm.
