Premier League
BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION 3 (Minteh 48, Rutter 58, Welbeck 66)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2 (Johnson 23, Maddison 37)
TOTTENHAM slipped up on the South Coast today (Sunday) after squandering a two-goal lead against Brighton – leaving manager Ange Postecoglou fuming at his players, calling the second half, three-goal fold the worst display he has seen since he took the job last summer.
First half efforts from Brennan Johnson – his sixth in six games – and James Maddison gave Spurs a hefty half-time advantage. It looked like there could only be one winner after a dominant showing – but Brighton somehow came out a different proposition after the break, and goals by Yankuba Minteh, Georginio Rutter and Danny Welbeck turned the game on its head.
Speaking after the game, a shell-shocked Postecoglou said: “Disappointed, frustrated and absolutely gutted with that. The worst defeat since I’ve been here. An unacceptable second half.”
The Tottenham boss accused his players of getting ahead of themselves after recording five wins on the bounce. He added: “We were nowhere near where we should be. We got carried away with how we were going.”
Postecoglou also expressed concern over how easily Brighton saw out the game as his stunned side failed to respond. He continued: “We kind of accepted our fate and it is hard to understand as we’ve not done that while I’ve been here. We paid the price. The problem is when you are travelling along too smoothly, football will trip you up if you get too far ahead of yourself.”
Postecoglou could have been forgiven for walking into the dressing room at half-time feeling like a champ after seeing Spurs ease into a 2-0 lead. But it went from a sublime first 45 minutes to a ridiculous second half.
Brighton’s first goal on 48 minutes seemed to spread an unnecessary sense of trepidation through the away ranks. Livewire Kaoru Mitoma caused Tottenham issues in the first half without his teammates following suit. In the second period, however, the winger upped his game still further, and with Johnson offering little in defensive support to Pedro Porro, the Seagulls made hay down the Spurs right almost every time they got the ball out wide.
On the opposite flank Destiny Udogie looked uncharacteristically loose on the ball, and it was his loss of bearings that aided Brighton’s bid to battle back and take all three points.
Spurs began well. Within the opening minute, Timo Werner had broken clear and his cross was just a fraction too far ahead for Johnson.
Dejan Kulusevski looked eager and saw a shot deflected over the bar, while Maddison thought he had opened the scoring when a Werner header struck him and dribbled in. The linesman called rightfully with Porro offside in the build-up.
But the goal was coming, and on 23 minutes Johnson showed how much confidence he has at the moment with a dead eye finish following a slick pass from Dominic Solanke.
Tottenham doubled their lead on 37. Werner got free again and played the easy pass for Maddison. The midfielder set his sights and curled a low shot into the bottom corner, under Bart Verbruggen’s despairing dive.
It was all Tottenham deserved – but how they would later rue the many missed chances they created. Whatever was said at half-time in the home dressing room, the Seagulls came out fighting and got an early goal back via a Spurs mix-up. A cross from the left evaded Micky van de Ven and Udogie got himself in a horrible tangle, allowing Minteh to finish low.
Brighton got the scent of blood in their nostrils and suddenly Tottenham’s slick passes were being snapped up by the team in blue and white stripes.
Guglielmo Vicario had been forced to stop two efforts before Rutter steamed through and equalised just before the hour mark.
Spurs had done nothing to suggest they could rediscover their first half levels, and their goal looked troubled. Welbeck’s winner came from an unmarked header centrally after Rutter had got the better of Rodrigo Bentancur and managed somehow to lift a cross over his challenge.
Even with 20 minutes left to conjure up a response, Spurs looked like they had run out of ideas and wanted the referee to put them out of their misery. A late Udogie effort was easily gathered, otherwise Spurs simply offered nothing in the opponents half.
The full-time whistle blew, and Tottenham’s collapse was pronounced: for a side packed with experienced heads, the rapid demise and inability to rouse themselves shows a frailty that Postecoglou’s teams attractive spells can’t mask.
Brighton & Hove Albion: Verbruggen, Veltman, Dunk, Webster (Julio, 9), Kadioglu (Estupinan, 46), Baleba (Wieffer, 74), Hinshelwood, Minteh (Gruda, 87), Rutter (Enciso, 73), Mitoma, Welbeck
Substitutes not used: Steele, Lamptey, Ayari, Ferguson