Spurs come from behind to beat Brighton through late Johnson strike
Guglielmo Vicario faced criticism following his performance against Everton, but the Italian made a big save inside the opening 50 seconds to deny Danny Welbeck after the striker had dispossessed Micky van de Ven.
There had been a heated edge to the opening quarter-hour, with Pascal Groß and James Maddison clashing. It was the Seagulls' creator-in-chief that dealt the first blow, pickpocketing Maddison on the edge of Spurs’ box before Welbeck once again fooled Van de Ven to win a penalty that Groß confidently converted.
Spurs and Maddison responded quickly as they tried to get back into the game, with their number 10 threading a brilliant ball through for Richarlison, although he was denied by a strong save from Jason Steele.
Maddison then sent an attempt of his own curling agonizingly wide, but Brighton continued to press and a poor ball from Vicario to Rodrigo Bentancur resulted in a move that culminated in the goalkeeper denying Kaoru Mitoma.
Both teams were taking risks on the ball and a poor Pervis Estupiñán pass gifted possession to Richarlison, but the Brazilian and Maddison couldn’t combine to capitalise.
Ange Postecoglou’s side created the better openings after the break, with Maddison’s tame free-kick being dealt with by Steele and Timo Werner’s effort trickling marginally wide.
Spurs continued to sustain the pressure and after seeing a shot blocked by Tariq Lamptey, Pape Matar Sarr finally got their equaliser on the hour mark when his attempted cutback was turned onto the post by Lewis Dunk and the midfielder reacted to mark his first start since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations with an important goal.
The Seagulls eventually regained their foothold in the game and created opportunities but Ansu Fati slid his effort agonizingly wide and Van de Ven deflected Facundo Buonanotte’s strike off-target.
However, they were hit in the final moments as Heung-min Son teed up Brennan Johnson for a finish at the back post that earned Spurs’ fifth consecutive home PL win. Brighton, meanwhile, haven’t won any of their last six away league games.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jan Paul van Hecke (Brighton & Hove Albion)
