Brighton & Hove Albion 4-2 Spurs

The report in full...

We were already 4-0 down at the AMEX Stadium when the Argentine forward stepped off the bench to score a late goal, with Ben Davies heading home shortly after to set-up a frantic finale which ultimately fell short.

Brighton were 2-0 up by half-time thanks to goals from Jack Hinshelwood and a Joao Pedro penalty and added two more to their tally after the break through a piledriver from Pervis Estupinian and another Pedro spot-kick, before we finally got on the scoresheet for the 31^st game in succession with those two late goals.

For the opening few minutes we looked lively in the Brighton half but very quickly, the home side started to take control and added goals to a dominant spell. Twice in quick succession we needed excellent saves from Guglielmo Vicario to deny Danny Welbeck, the second an outstanding stop from close range.

The Seagulls took the lead on 11 minutes, Pedro coming in off the left flank and finding Hinshelwood who had time and space to take a touch and smash the ball right-footed into the roof of the net.

Vicario then saved Pedro’s drive before they doubled their lead from the penalty spot. Jan Paul van Hecke headed a corner against the post and as the ball bounced around in the area, Welbeck fell to the ground with loud appeals for a penalty. The game went on until referee Jarred Gillett stopped play to go and look at the pitchside monitor, where he saw Dejan Kulusevski pulling Welbeck’s shirt as he went to shoot and awarded the spot-kick. Pedro stepped up and sent Vicario the wrong way for 2-0. It was the first time we’d gone two down under Ange Postecoglou.

A half-chance came our way just before the half-hour mark, Brennan Johnson’s superb ball across the face of the goal just out of Richarlison’s reach but back came Brighton, James Milner striking the post with a right-foot curler and Facundo Buonanotte netting with a smart finish but he was clearly offside.

It was almost 3-0 on the stroke of half-time as Pedro raced onto Pedro Porro’s loose pass and was in on goal, attempting a dink over Vicario but the goalkeeper just got a touch to divert the ball wide. We went straight up the other end, Johnson down the right rolling a pass in to Richarlison whose first-time shot from the edge of the area hit the outside of the woodwork.

The Brazilian went close in the opening minutes of the second period too, curling a yard wide after Heung-Min Son won possession high up the pitch before Destiny Udogie received Son’s pass inside the area only to see his effort blocked by van Hecke from close range.

Richarlison then had the ball in the net from Kulusevski’s pass on 62 minutes, but was just offside and it didn’t count. Instead, Brighton went up the other end and won a corner, which was played out to substitute Estupinian and he hit a rocket into the top corner.

Our night got worse when substitute Giovani Lo Celso was adjudged to have fouled Evan Ferguson inside the area, the referee pointing to the spot and Pedro once again beat Vicario from 12 yards with 15 minutes remaining.

But we did have something to cheer in the 81^st minute, Kulusevski closing down Lewis Dunk with the ball falling to Son, who found Veliz and the Argentine slotted home from 15 yards. And we added a second a few minutes later as Porro’s cross was headed home at the far post by Davies.

With nine minutes added on, we still had plenty of time to score again and threw everything at Brighton, Kulusevski firing across goal, Veliz having a shot blocked by Dunk, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg hitting the post and Estupinian somehow diverting Porro’s effort just wide. But in the end, it was too little, too late.