Brighton & Hove Albion (Away) 08.10.2022

With Royal suspended, Matt Doherty took his right wing back position and made a good impression after some recent unflattering comments about him from Antonio Conte.  Ryan Sessegnon started in place of Perisic, with Bissouma added to the middle of midfield, as Richarlison dropped to the bench, leaving the Son and Kane partnership in attack.  Brighton had come off the back of a 3-3 draw at Anfield, with this being the first home game for their new manager Roberto de Zerbi.

Spurs kicked off and in the third minute Heung-Min Son had a free-kick just outside the box, which he got on target but Sanchez was able to push out as the game started at a slow pace, with Tottenham having most of the possession. Hojbjerg’s astute pass down the right got Doherty running into the box, but instead of squaring the ball across the space in front of goal where Sessegnon was moving into, Matt took an extra touch and under pressure from Estupinan knocked the ball off for a goal-kick.

Brighton did get the ball wide and put the ball in low that was cleared, but the second phase saw a ball chipped into the Spurs box, where Hugo took it without any pressure on him.  Spurs moved the ball to the other end and Doherty again got into the penalty area to meet Sessegnon’s long cross, but hitting the ball on the half-volley, he couldn’t control his shot which bounced into the ground and over the top corner of the goal.  it was end to end, although via s slow build-up and former Gooner Welbeck had a shot from the Brighton right that went across Lloris’ goal and wide of the far post, before a long ball was through for Kane, who jostled with Webster and knocked the ball on with his hand, deliberately in the eyes of the referee, who waved the yellow card at the England captain.

With twenty minutes gone, Son played a square ball 22 yards out to Bentancur and his fierce shot brought a save from Sanchez that brought Spurs a corner. It was played just beyond the near post, but was cleared to Pierre Hojbjerg, who played it wide right to Son, who had taken the corner. This time he cut back and played a low ball towards the near post, where Harry Kane had to fall backwards to guide a header past the keeper from the edge of the six yard box. It was an instinctive header and coming halfway through the first half, it was reward for the way Spurs had controlled the game to that point, but the inevitable VAR check held up the award of the goal, which Kane celebrated by pointing to the sky and his black armband in a tribute to Gian Piero Ventrone, who had passed away a few days before.

Straight from the kick off Spurs attacked again, with Doherty putting a low ball to the box, although it was blocked and came out to Bissouma, who tried to dink it in to Kane, but it was mis-directed. Brighton on the other hand were trying to by-pass the Spurs midfield by playing balls beyond them and Welbeck looked to get on the end of one of them, but Lloris came out to claim the ball first. Hugo had to be on his toes to beat out a shot from Caicedo, before Bissouma picked up a yellow card for a late challenge on McAllister. He made up for it though, as the resulting free-kick was nodded down and the former Brighton midfielder got to it first as it looked as though a shot on goal might have been about to come Brighton’s way.

A series of corners for the home club ended with Dunk’s header going a foot over the bar as he got highest to win the ball and that was followed by some passing around the edge of the Spurs box that created an opportunity for March to whistle a shot narrowly wide of Lloris’ left hand post with the Tottenham captain stuck in the middle of the goal on his line. Another couple of corners for the Seagulls failed to bring a threat on the Spurs goal, but a couple of minutes before half-time, the referee failed to give a free-kick when Hojbjerg was bundled over for the umpteenth time and the ball ricocheted around the edge of the Spurs box until it fell for Welbeck to fire a shot at goal that Hugo beat out.

Brighton came out kicking with two fouls on Son and a blatant wrestle on Bentancur, with Veltman getting booked for the second foul on Sonny. It was only when it was brought to referee’s attention that it wasn’t the Dutchman’s first foul that he brought out the card, even though Veltman had been ranting in his face.

Just after the hour, Kane’s pass to his left almost got Son in on the edge of the box, but Dunk stuck out a leg to put it away for a corner. A minute later, Romero’s forward header found Kane, who turned Dunk to the right of the centre, but dragged his effort low past the keeper’s far post.

Substitute Mitoma made a run past two Spurs defenders into the box, but Hugo dashed to his right to dive at his feet to block any danger. In the 70 th minute a free-kick for a crude block by Caicedo gave Son a chance to put in a firm cross that Kane got to first with his head, but guided it past the far post. Three minutes later, Son had the ball in the net with a typical bent finish into the top corner, but he was given offside.

Welbeck tried an effort from just inside the area from the left of the D, but dragged it wide across Lloris, which was where Hojbjerg’s tackle on McAllister ended up when Brighton were trying to play the ball out from the back.  It was lucky for the home team, as the ball could have gone anywhere.

Into the last ten minutes of the game, our game management slipped as the ball was given away too simply and Brighton benefitted from some lax refereeing when their player pulled Tottenham players off the ball. Kane got a kick on the back of his ankle when he got back to prevent McAllister having a shot. It was accidental but worse than the previous bookings that had gone before.

Tottenham played the game out despite a late push by Brighton for an equaliser, featuring some good dribbling and interplay by the Japanese substitute Mitoma, but apart from needing a well-timed tackle by Doherty as it looked as though the ball might reach a Brighton forward in the area there was little of note that happened.

The game was an odd one, as Spurs played with a bit of aggression at the start of the first half and Brighton the same in the early part of the second, but a lot of the game was played at a slower pace with Brighton building play with a lot of passes, but lacking a finishing touch, which was their problem for a lot of last season.  Tottenham looked more solid with Bissouma, Bentancur and Hojbjerg in midfield, but it does restrict the attacking options, so it will be interesting to see how Conte changes things when Kulusevski is fit to play again.

While Spurs looked more comfortable in the new line-up, there is still something not quite clicking, but with Son laying on another goal for Kane, it was good to see the two of them getting things together.  With better finishing the margin could have been bigger, but then if Brighton had done the same, it could have gone the other way.  The Spurs side did well when defending, getting important blocks to shots that came in, while there was the threat of a breakaway, with Sessegnon and Doherty just needing to pick out the right option when they went forward.

A good three points that keeps us third and with lots of games to come, I am sure that Conte will use other players to try and keep things fresh.  But this win was for Gian Piero and on a day when John Duncan – another Spurs man – died at 73, it gave some happier news to Tottenham fans in sad times.

Aidensby Quernhow

• Following the death of Spurs Fitness and Conditioning Coach Gian Piero Ventrone, the teams both wore black armbands and there was a minute’s applause for the Italian coach before kick off.
  Players took the knee before kick off in support of Black Lives Matter.