Hapless Spurs succumb to Brighton
BRIGHTON, UK: Tottenham’s calamitous week went from bad to worse as Mauricio Pochettino’s men were outclassed in a 3-0 defeat at Brighton on Saturday.
Nineteen-year-old Aaron Connolly scored twice for the Seagulls on his first Premier League start after Neal Maupay had headed Brighton into an early lead. Four days on from a 7-2 thrashing at the hands of Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Pochettino was looking for a reaction.
Instead, Spurs looked like a side devoid of confidence after getting off to the worst possible start when Hugo Lloris gifted Brighton the opener and injured himself in the process. He dropped a simple cross into the box and as he fell backwards and landed awkwardly, Maupay stooped to head into an empty net.
Lloris was stretchered off with what looked like an elbow injury and replaced by Paolo Gazzaniga.
Connolly took advantage of more generous Spurs defending and goalkeeping to double Brighton’s lead before half-time and curled in his second of the day in style 25 minutes from time.
Last season’s Champions League finalists have now won just three of their opening 11 games of the campaign and five of their last 19 dating back to when these sides last met in April.
And while Pochettino could justifiably claim Bayern’s ruthlessness in midweek meant the scoreline was not a reflection of his side’s performance, there was no excuse for being thoroughly outplayed by a Brighton side that had not won in six league games. The visitors’ were on the backfoot from the off when injury was added to insult for Lloris.
The Spurs skipper was given oxygen and morphine before being taken to hospital and now seems certain to miss France’s upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Iceland and Turkey.
LATE PENALTY HELPS LIVERPOOL WIN
James Milner’s 95thminute penalty maintained Liverpool’s perfect start to the Premier League season in a dramatic 2-1 win over Leicester.
James Maddison’s 80th-minute equaliser looked set to earn Brendan Rodgers’s side a point on the Leicester boss’ first visit to Anfield since being sacked by Liverpool four years ago.
However, Milner stayed cool with almost the last kick of the game to seal Liverpool’s 17th straight Premier League win and open up an eight-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the table. The drama did not end there as after the final whistle there were angry scenes with players from both sides squaring up, including a heated exchange between Ayoze Perez and Andy Robertson. Rodgers speaks warmly of his time on Merseyside despite the sorry end to his tenure, and even rented his house to Jurgen Klopp after his successor took charge of the club.But, however cordial relations between Rodgers and his former employers remain, he offered few favours to a Liverpool side looking for their eighth win in as many league games this season.