After five wins in a row, Tottenham Hotspur visited Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday evening – and failed to see out a 2-0 lead. Fabian Hürzeler’s Seagulls turned on after the break and also celebrated the debut of summer signing Gruda.
Before the game on Sunday, Pascal Groß was officially bid farewell by Brighton & Hove Albion. The German had left for BVB in the summer after seven years with the Seagulls.
Brighton manager Fabian Hürzeler made two changes after the 4-2 defeat at Chelsea: Veltman started in place of Estupinan at left-back. In addition, Wieffer was replaced by Minteh in midfield.
Spurs coach Ange Poctecoglou had rotated the team a lot in the 2-1 Europa League win in Budapest. Before the game against Brighton, he went back to the same starting lineup that beat Manchester United 3-0.
The game started at a rapid pace: after just 20 seconds, the visitors had a first big chance, but Werner’s cross to Johnson was too sloppy. That was the start of an exhilarating opening phase for Spurs. Kulusevski and Maddison both had further good chances before the 10th minute. In the 23rd minute, Maddison’s supposed 1-0 was disallowed due to an offside position.
Two completely different halves of the game
But shortly after, the time had come: after a through ball from Solanke, Johnson scored to make it 1-0 (23′). In the 32nd minute, Welbeck could have equalized after a outside pass from Mitoma, but the striker missed the ball.
And just five minutes later, it was already 2-0 to Spurs: Werner set up Maddison on the edge of the box after a fast counterattack. His shot was actually much too unplaced, but Verbruggen missed the ball (37′). Johnson could have even extended the lead before half-time, but shot just over. So it was with the well-deserved 2-0 for the guests at half-time.
The second half got off to a perfect start for the home side, though. Minteh scored after just 48 minutes following a cross from Mitoma. After that, the momentum was naturally on the side of the Seagulls: Vicario had to save twice for the Spurs in the 56th and 57th minutes. In the 58th minute, Rutter equalized with a pass from Mitoma.
And in the 66th minute, the Seagulls turned the game completely around. Rutter made a strong run on the right wing and crossed just before the byline for Welbeck, who headed in from close range. The stadium exploded after this goal. Within 21 minutes, the home side had turned the game around.
Postecoglou couldn’t believe it
After that, Brighton was naturally more concerned with keeping it safe. Tottenham got back into the game a little better. But apart from a good shot from Udogie in the 84th minute, the visitors no longer posed a threat. In the 87th minute, there was something else to cheer about from a German point of view: former Mainz player Gruda made his debut in the Premier League. And Gruda even got the ball in the box again, but didn’t get a shot off. Brighton won 3-2 after a crazy second half.
That was a little fortunate after a strong first half from Spurs, but of course it was a morale-boosting victory. For long stretches of the second half, the Tottenham players didn’t know what was happening to them. Coach Postecoglou couldn’t stop shaking his head.
Brighton jumps to sixth place in the Premier League thanks to the win. Fabian Hürzeler’s team will face Newcastle after the international break. Tottenham are ninth after the seventh matchday and will play West Ham after the break.