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Tottenham Hotspur welcomed Brighton & Hove Albion to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Boxing Day in the Premier League looking to bounce back from their weekend’s debacle. Jose Mourinho’s wards were convincingly defeated by Chelsea in a game that was marred by a red card as well as racial abuses from the stands. Spurs were desperate to put those incidents behind them and get closer to the top 4. Their opponents on Thursday, however, were no pushovers either.
The Seagulls had already defeated Tottenham 3-0 in October at the Amex Stadium, a game that had brought Mauricio Pochettino closer to the sack. Brighton had not been in the best run of form of late, even though they were 5 points clear of the relegation zone. However, Spurs had developed a habit of conceding goals since the appointment of Mourinho, a fact that gave Graham Potter a thin ray of hope. Mourinho knew that he could not afford any more slips as the league headed towards the midway point of the season and he named his team accordingly.
Tottenham Hotspur Starting XI: Paulo Gazzaniga; Serge Aurier, Davinson Sanchez, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Ryan Sessegnon; Harry Winks, Moussa Sissoko; Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Lucas Moura
Tottenham started the game on the front foot, but it was the away side who took control of the game when Adam Webster scored in the 37th minute. The game went into the break with Brighton leading 1-0. In the second half, Kane scored the equalizer in the 53rd minute, before Alli put the home team ahead in the 72nd minute and secured all 3 points for Tottenham. Here are the 3 reasons why Spurs won the game.
#3 Improved second-half performance
Early in the first half, it looked like Kane had given Tottenham the lead, but it was disallowed by VAR. The home side never really recovered from that setback in the half and struggled to cause the away side too many worries. Webster’s goal only made the evening worse and the home team were booed off during the break.
However, Spurs improved massively in the second half and were rewarded with an early goal. The home team took the game to Brighton and showed a desire that was missing in the first half. Tottenham went on to score a deserved winner and ultimately completed an impressive comeback.
#2 Brighton’s failure to build on the initial momentum
Early in the game, Steven Alzate created space in the edge of the Tottenham box and unleashed a shot. Even though it failed to hit the target, it was a clear intention of Brighton’s intent. They had not travelled to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to make up the numbers. Alzate was at it again in the 13th minute, combining well with Gross and carving out a chance for himself. His shot required intervention from Paulo Gazzaniga, who palmed it away from goal. On the other end of the pitch, the away defense managed to keep the Tottenham attack at bay and Brighton matched the home side step for step around the park, even surpassing them at times.
After Tottenham’s disallowed goal, the away side grew in confidence and then dealt the opposition with a killer blow through Webster. They even went into the break with a lead but failed to build on their momentum in the second half. They allowed Tottenham to get back into the game and lacked a bit of composure at the back, which ultimately cost them the game.
#1 Individual brilliance
Mourinho got more than he bargained for against Brighton and had to rely on the individual brilliance of some of his players to bail him out on the day. Kane was certainly disappointed when his first-half goal was ruled out for offside, but he did not let it get to his head. Instead, the Englishman managed to inspire his team and showed his fantastic goalscoring ability early in the second half.
It started with Lucas Moura’s fantastic run and with a stroke of luck, the ball fell to Kane. The Englishman took it in his stride and unleashed a fierce shot at goal, which was saved by Mathew Ryan in the Brighton goal. However, the ball came back to Kane, who unleashed another inch-perfect shot, despite being off-balance, that found its way into the back of the net.
The second goal was equally impressive. It involved Christian Eriksen’s vision, which saw the ball arrive at the feet of Aurier. The Ivorian’s cut back to Alli wasn’t the greatest, but the Englishman improvised brilliantly, lifting the ball over Ryan and giving his team a deserved lead.
