Match report: Brighton and Hove Albion 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur
By Tom Vinall
On Sunday afternoon, Spurs traveled to Brighton and Hove Albion for the final Premier League game before the international break.
For the task at hand, Ange opted for a line up of; Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van De Ven, Udogie; Kulusevski, Bentancur, Maddison; Johnson, Solanke, Werner.
Within just twenty seconds, Spurs should have taken the lead. Werner and Johnson raced behind the Brighton backline, but Werner overhit his ball across goal.
After just five mintues, Romero found Maddison over the top, but as he shot barely ten yards from goal, Adam Webster came across to make a superb block and deny him.
After 22 minutes, Spurs had a goal ruled out for an offside given against Johnson in the build up, after Maddison had scrambled home a rebound from a Werner effort.
Spurs would take the lead for real within a minute, however. Maddison won the ball back in midfield, passing to Solanke, who put Johnson through with an outrageous through ball, and the Welsh winger showed what confidence he is playing with, by taking the shot first time on his left foot - finding the bottom corner.
Around the half hour mark, Welbeck had the hosts first shot of the game, dragging wide when well placed in a let off for Ange Postecoglu's side.
Then, after around 36 minutes, a Maddison shot that really should have been saved squirmed past Bart Vergbruggen to double Spurs’ lead.
Five minutes before the break, there was another presentable opportunity for the hosts, as Welbeck flicked an inswinging cross wide.
Two minutes before the break, Johnson raced through, but fired over under the pressure of Ferdi Kadioglu. Spurs would go into the interval with a two goal lead.
Just a couple of minutes into the second half, Brighton had a goal back after Udogie failed to deal with a cross from the right hand side, as Yankuba Minteh fired into the bottom corner.
Ten minutes or so later, Karou Mitoma stung the gloves of Vicario as the hosts looked to build on the momentum of the game.
That they did, as just a minute latter Georginio Rutter equalised for the hosts, having been found by Mitoma, and Spurs were back to square one.
Only minutes later, Mitoma had a shot blocked from a dangerous position, with Spurs at this point really hanging on.
With 25 minutes to go, Brighton got their goal. Rutter somehow wriggled away from Udogie, who then somehow got to the loose ball before Bentancur, to cross the ball for Welbeck who could not believe his luck, as he headed home to complete the comeback.
Very shortly after, Udogie was booked for a foul. Safe to say the Italian international has had better days than he did today. Not long after that, Kulusevski's name was also taken for a foul.
With just over ten minutes to go, Bissouma and Sarr replaced Bentancur and Werner in the first changes of the afternoon for Spurs.
It took until the 84th minute for Spurs to have a chance of note in the second half, as a firm right-footed strike by Udogie from the edge of the box was kept out by Verbruggen.
After 85 minutes, Moore replaced Maddison in a bid to try and get something from the game. It was to be no use, however, as Spurs were condemed to a 3-2 defeat despite being two goals up at half time.
That second half can only be described as pathetic and embarrassing from everybody involved. A serious downer to chew on during the international break after what should have been six wins from six. Wow.