Brighton beaten as we march on in FA Cup - report and reaction

A double from Harry Kane helped us advance into the fifth round of the FA Cup in an entertaining tie against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday evening.

The striker scored in each half with Solly March credited as scoring an own goal following Emerson Royal's effort, while the Seagulls briefly threatened a comeback when Yves Bissouma netted to make it 2-1 midway through the second half at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

We went ahead on 13 minutes through a wonderful Kane goal, curling right-footed from 25 yards past Robert Sanchez, just seconds after he’d missed an almost open goal following a Sanchez miskick. The second arrived 11 minutes later and it was all the work of Royal, who sprinted three quarters of the length of the pitch down the right before drilling over a cross which flicked off March and flew over Sanchez into the net.

The visitors responded well and reduced the deficit after 63 minutes when Bissouma’s drive deflected off Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and wrong-footed Hugo Lloris, but we quickly hit back with Kane adding his second from close range after a great run from Heung-Min Son.

The game also saw the debuts off the bench of new signings Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur to add to a good night all round.

Solid win in proper cup tie

Despite an FA Cup history dating back over 100 years for both teams, this was only the second time we had met Brighton in the competition, following our January, 2005, encounter which we won 2-1 at the Lane. We fared even better this time in a game which was played at a good tempo from the first whistle to the last, with a real cup tie feel to it and one which flowed from end to end during the second half as Brighton battled for a way back into it.

The first period was more comfortable for us as we dominated for long periods and scored the goals at good times. The opener came on 13 minutes but not before a bizarre incident seconds earlier, when goalkeeper Sanchez went to clear the ball under no pressure and just scooped it up to Kane, but he was so surprised by it that he scuffed his volley straight back to Sanchez with the goal gaping! However, Adam Webster then gave the ball away midway inside his own half, Hojbjerg moved it quickly forward to Kane who took two touches to get the ball out and then hit a superb curler past Sanchez.

And our bright start was further rewarded on 24 minutes, just moments after Harry Winks had tried his luck from 30 yards which Sanchez saved. Winks started the move for the second goal from just outside our area, picking out Royal bursting away down the right. March chased him back but Emerson just kept going, all the way to the edge of the area and then went again to the byline before whipping in a cross which flicked off March’s boot and took the ball sailing over Sanchez and in.

We were well on top at that stage and when Hojbjerg led a breakaway just before the half-hour and found Kane, it looked like a third goal was coming as the striker shaped to shoot and sat the defender down, but then he clipped the ball to the back post where Son headed wide – and he was offside anyway.

Brighton showed they were still very much in the game with two well-worked moves which ended with poor finishes. On 39 minutes, Bissouma played a one-two and received the ball in the box with his back to goal, back-heeled it to Neal Maupay but he fired well wide on the spin and on the stroke of half-time, Pascal Gross played a ball in to Maupay who touched off to Jakub Moder on the edge of the box but he couldn’t keep his shot down. And it was Moder with the first sight of goal of the second period, again firing over although this one was a little closer and had Lloris reaching out a hand to make sure it didn’t trouble his goal. Moments later, it was the skipper’s hand which did actually come to our rescue when Bissouma’s shot flicked off Cristian Romero’s foot and had Lloris wrong-footed, but he was able to change direction and push the ball away.

Son had a shot saved by Sanchez as we looked to extend our lead but Brighton were on top at that point and their pressure finally told when they pulled one back. Bissouma picked the ball up on the left and advanced across the edge of the area before hitting a right-foot shot which deflected off Hojbjerg and this time, Lloris couldn’t recover.

Fortunately, though, we hit back just three minutes later to restore our two-goal lead as Son burst right through the heart of the Brighton defence and into the area, where he was eventually tackled by Webster but his heavy touch took the ball rolling towards goal and Kane slid in to make sure. It was end-to-end stuff and back came the visitors, Maupay finding himself clean through with just Lloris to beat but he kicked the ground as he went to shoot and scooped the ball straight at the goalkeeper.

Our fans were then given the chance to see our two new signings in the flesh as Kulusevski and Bentancur entered the fray during the final quarter of the game and both showed touches of class in their cameos. We then missed a glorious chance with seven minutes left, the visitors’ keeper kicking the ball straight to Kulusevski who found fellow substitute Steven Bergwijn in front of goal 12 yards out, but he blazed over. Further late chances saw Sanchez keep out Sergio Reguilon’s angled drive and Kane smash over the bar as he eyed up another hat-trick, while Lloris had to scramble across to keep out Danny Welbeck’s 94th-minute header.

Fifth round draw

The draw for the fifth round will take place before the Liverpool v Cardiff City tie on ITV on Sunday (6 February), at approximately 11.40am.

Our second goal on Saturday night took us to the top of the all-time goalscoring charts in the history of the FA Cup. We had started the season at the top with 900 goals, but were overtaken by National League North side Kettering Town who moved onto 904 goals before being knocked out last October. We scored three against Morecambe in round three and climbed ahead of Kettering with the own goal from Solly March against the Seagulls.

Kane’s two goals – his 15th of the current season – means he has now scored 13 goals in his last 12 FA Cup ties.

Antonio Conte made five changes from the team that lost at Chelsea in the league on 23 January, with Heung-Min Son and Cristian Romero make their returns from injury while Royal, Reguilon and Lucas Moura also came in, replacing Japhet Tanganga, Eric Dier, Matt Doherty, Ryan Sessegnon and Bergwijn.

Reaction on Spurs TV

'I'm pleased with the commitment'

Antonio said after the game: "I’m pleased with the performance, with the win. We went to the next round in an important competition, an important trophy in England and I’m pleased for the fans and the noise they made tonight, we have to continue in this way.

"I’m pleased with the commitment, the character of the side, for the will that our players showed. I have seen great commitment from the start until the end. Now we have to continue in this way."

Match data

Goals: Spurs – Kane 13, 66, March (OG) 24; Brighton – Bissouma 63.

Yellow cards: Spurs – Bentancur; Brighton - Veltman.

Referee: Stuart Attwell.

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Weather: Light rain, fresh breeze, nine degrees.

Attendance: 54,697.