SPURS SLIP ON THE ROAD
Kane delivers but Poch’s men seem distracted by Cup
THE cavalry will return on Saturday and Tottenham need them back fast on the evidence of this performance. Perhaps this was always going to be an awkward clash against Brighton for Mauricio Pochettino with a crack at reaching the FA Cup final just three days away. The prospect of a semi-final can do funny things to footballers.
The Spurs manager insists securing a top-four finish in the Premier League remains the priority, but he was not fooling anyone here last night.
A desire to end the club’s decade-long trophy drought was at the heart of Spurs’ failure to put relegation-threatened Brighton to the sword, as Pochettino made six changes ahead of the semi-final against Manchester United.
Belgium defender Toby Alderweireld was brought in from the cold for his first Premier League appearance since October. It is highly likely, of course, that the centre back will find himself back in the wilderness this weekend, such is his diminished role as a result of his contract dispute.
Lucas Moura, the £25million January signing from Paris Saint Germain, started his first Premier League game.
In many ways, victory was far more important for Hughton. Going into the match on 35 points, Brighton were within touching distance of safety.
But with Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool still to play, it would have been understandable if Hughton was still somewhat twitchy.
Tottenham’s changes disrupted their normal attacking fluency in the opening stages and a Christian Eriksen free-kick fired straight at the Brighton wall was all they had to show for their early possession.
If it had not been for Hugo Lloris’s agility, the home side could even taken the lead inside 20 minutes, Lewis Dunk and Anthony Knockaert forcing the Spurs captain into action.
Credit to Brighton, they were far from overawed. Perhaps they sensed Spurs were there for the taking, given Pochettino’s decision to rotate his team. Perhaps they sensed damage to Tottenham’s confidence following Saturday’s loss against Manchester City. Whatever it was, they looked full of belief in a vibrant opening.
Tottenham, on the other hand, looked short of ideas. Moura’s effort from distance was comfortably tipped over the bar by Matt Ryan, and that was the best they had to show for their first-half efforts.
However, Knockaert nearly undid Brighton’s hard work just before the break when his clumsy pass led to Spurs being awarded a free kick on the edge of the area.
This time Kane stepped up, but the England man slipped as he struck the ball, allowing Ryan to make a routine save.
There was nothing routine, though, about the Brighton goalkeeper’s stop from the final kick of the first half.
Son Heung-min was played through by Kane and looked certain to put Spurs ahead, only for Ryan to conjure a brilliant save low to his left. More often than not, Son would fired Tottenham ahead, but that would have been harsh on Brighton.
It was a warning, however, of what was to follow as Tottenham took a 48th-minute lead. Inevitably, it was Kane (left) who fired home, despite Bruno’s valiant attempts to block. The Tottenham striker was indebted to Son, who put the ball on a plate for his team-mate. He could also be grateful to Brighton’s Pascal Gross and Gaetan Bong, whose comedy of errors left the home defence horribly exposed. That should have been the signal for Tottenham to cruise to victory, but Brighton had other ideas. Serge Aurier appeared to haul down Jose Izquierdo in the box and the Amex Stadium held its breath. Referee Kevin Friend took his time about it, but pointed to the spot.
The home crowd erupted in joy as Aurier protested his innocence, but replays showed the Ivory Coast defender was on the wrong side and had put his hands on Izquierdo. Friend had no choice.
Gross stepped up to fire home the penalty. Lloris got a hand to on the ball but could not keep it out, and Brighton were level two minutes after falling behind.
Hughton clenched his fists in the technical area, while Pochettino was left pondering how his team could be so careless. BRIGHTON (4-3-3): RYAN 7.5; Bruno 7, Duffy 7, Dunk 7, Bong 5.5; Gross 6.5, Stephens 7, Knockaert 7; Kayal 6.5, Murray 6.5 (Ulloa 74min, 6) Izquierdo 7 (March 77). Subs not used: Krul, Baldock, Goldson, Schelotto, Locadia. Scorer: Gross 50 pen. Booked: Dunk. Manager: Chris Hughton 7. TOTTENHAM (4-2-3-1): Lloris 6.5; Aurier 5, Alderweireld 6.5, Vertonghen 6.5, Davies 6.5; Wanyama 7, Sissoko 6.5 (Dembele 74, 6); Moura 7 (Lamela 74, 6), Eriksen 7, Son 6.5; Kane 6.5 (Llorente 85). Subs not used: Vorm, Trippier, Dier, Foyth. Scorer: Kane 48. Booked: None. Manager: Mauricio Pochettino 6.5. Referee: Kevin Friend 7.5. Attendance: 30,440.