Tottenham Hotspur hold off Brighton in much needed 2-1 win

On Saturday, Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton & Hove Albion clashed in the Premier League at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Going into the match, Spurs and Brighton were fifth and sixth in the league, respectively.

With both clubs aiming to qualify for Europe, the stakes were high leading up to the match.

The match had everything a football fan would want in it. Several yellow cards were shown throughout the match as well as red cards being shown to both managers. Son Heung-Min scored a terrific curling goal, while there were also several controversial VAR moments.

But Tottenham was able to seal the three points in a gritty and defensive performance. Brighton fans will feel hard done by the result, as they created plenty of chances and had several refereeing decisions go against them.

More Tottenham players hitting milestones as Son Heung-min makes history

Son Heung-Min scored a trademark goal by curling a picture-perfect strike past Jason Steele in the 10th minute. The goal came against the run of play, but Spurs fans were not complaining. The goal saw Son become the first-ever Asian player to hit 100 goals in the Premier League.

After the magnificent goal by the South Korean, Brighton dominated the remainder of the first half. Not only did the Seagulls have 62% possession, but they also had 10 shots to Tottenham’s four. It was as if former manager Antonio Conte was still on the touchline.

Brighton was asking questions about the Spurs’ defense, which saw Hugo Lloris make a stretching save, followed by Moises Caicedo hitting the post from afar. Lloris may or may not have gotten a fingertip on Caicedo’s strike.

Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma, who has had a terrific season thus far, thought he found the equalizer, but the goal was disallowed via a handball from Mitoma.

But the Seagulls would soon equalize through a set piece. Brighton captain Lewis Dunk was left unmarked at the back post as he headed home his first goal of the season. This has been part of the story for Tottenham Hotspur this season, scoring first and then sitting back and inviting pressure onto themselves.

More VAR intervention in the second half

The second half started with end-to-end action. Mitoma dribbled past Pedro Porro and Cristian Romero but could not find a fellow Brighton man. Harry Kane played a perfect lobbed through ball to Ivan Perisic, calling Jason Steele to action.

Danny Welbeck thought he had found the go-ahead goal until another handball ruled the goal out. Welbeck struck the ball from around the edge of the eighteen-yard box, but the ball struck fellow teammate Alexis MacAllister’s hand before finding the back of the net.

The match took a sharp turn following the second disallowed goal.

Manager madness as both men see Red

Cristian Stellini and Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi were shown red cards in a scuffle on the touchline. However, there was a slight preview of this before the match even started.

Right before kickoff, there appeared to be a verbal altercation between both managers where De Zerbi was seen wagging his finger toward Stellini.

Both managers are Italian, and it is no secret that Italian managers tend to wear their emotions on their sleeves, as Spurs fans saw with Antonio Conte.

After that incident, the match was back-and-forth for the most part. Since Stellini was sent off, Ryan Mason became the active manager during the match and chose to bring on Arnaut Danjuma, a player that Spurs fans have been begging to see.

Following a poor clearance by Steele, Spurs pounced, and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg played a perfect cutback pass to Harry Kane, who made no mistake from the edge of the box. The 79th-minute strike raised Kane’s goal tally to 23 in the league this season.

Tottenham was able to see out the rest of the match and hold on for the three points. It was a much-needed victory for Spurs in their fight for a top-four place in the Premier League. Spurs will need to perform better, though, if they are to qualify for next season’s Champions League.