Trossard keeps eye on ball as Spurs lose focus
No efforts on target before Brighton’s sucker punch
THE strange rhythms of Tottenham and the stranger business of the pursuit for the top four. If anyone wants that spot and its bounty, they ought to make their intentions a little clearer.
To concede two points in this fixture would have been careless. But to drop all three? At home against Brighton? Without putting so much as a single shot on goal, and with that frontline?
What a peculiar mess and what a way to make things interesting, just when we were starting to talk about Tottenham and corners turned. They had scored 14 in four before this one; here, they took all their momentum and speed and smacked face-first into the wall.
So this was an immense chance missed and Antonio Conte, with his face of fury, knew it. And Arsenal knew it, for all of their wobbles. West Ham and Manchester United, too.
Give credit to Brighton at this point. They were good for it and so was the finish, applied by Leandro Trossard in stoppage time. It was an excellent way to settle a game and this was no robbery — Brighton did not dominate Spurs at any point, but at no stage were they chasing.
They swallowed Conte’s side at moments with their pressing and took the one good chance of a fairly dull match.
That it was dull was no accident, for which all eyes should first go to Graham Potter, and then to Yves Bissouma, respectively the architect and the implementer of good tactics. The latter swarmed all over Son Heung-Min and Dejan Kulusevski, to the extent that there were no lines of service to Harry Kane. The England striker has rarely looked so isolated.
Indeed, it was a plan well followed by a fine team that has tended to look one solid striker shy of being very good. But that is where we return to Tottenham, because irrespective of where Brighton punch in relation to their weight, there was little forewarning of this result.
True, they had a good win against Arsenal a week ago, but prior to that, Brighton had lost six of seven, with their sole point coming against Norwich. So that is the team that found it easy to keep Spurs at arm’s length and then kicked them in the spuds at the death.
Of course, Tottenham still have a comfortable hold on fourth, and one woeful loss cannot undo the mood of their recent run, but results like this will only intensify the onus on the harder games on their horizon against Arsenal and Liverpool.
As Conte put it: ‘For sure it is not good for us and it is a lesson that we can learn — there are games where if you are not able to win, you are not to lose. This was not our day.’
On the back of Tottenham’s recent surge, the manager made only one change, albeit enforced by the knee injury sustained last week by Matt Doherty, who had become an unlikely symbol of the side’s resurgence. He was replaced at left back by Sergio Reguilon.
Following Brighton’s win at Arsenal, Potter did not meddle too heavily with a good thing. His only adaptation was to drop Danny Welbeck to the bench, with Tariq Lamptey taking his place and playing at right wingback.
As ever, Lamptey was a quickfooted gem in all portions of that flank, defending and attacking with quality. Less common, certainly by recent standards, was the flimsiness of Tottenham’s contribution, especially in the early phases of the game — they rarely rocked forward from their heels in the opening half an hour.
Not that Brighton were dominating; more they found it easier to extricate limited chances in the squashed spaces between two pressing sides. The first of those came after 21 minutes, when Enock Mwepu flushed a half-volley that deflected wide off defender Ben Davies. The portions of other action were desperately small in either direction. Spurs created no opportunities worth describing, with Kane desperately short of assistance owing to Bissouma’s work in attacking the supply routes.
If there was any optimism from the Spurs end, it seemed to be in the pursuit of a second yellow card for
DAMAGE LIMITATION: Conte said his side could have at least held on for a point
Mwepu, who was booked for a foul on Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and had a couple more close calls. If Mwepu was fortunate, then the same must be said and more for Kulusevski, who appeared to elbow Marc Cucurella and escaped with only a yellow card.
Potter subbed off Mwepu for Welbeck at the break — sensible — and then had to contend with increased urgency from Spurs. If that hinted at the changing momentum of the game, then cue the gut punch.
Trossard started the winning move by swapping passes with Welbeck, but was fortunate when Cristian Romero intercepted and slipped, giving back possession. From there Trossard took a touch and lashed across Hugo Lloris. A good end to a ropey game; a continuation of a race for the top four no one seems to want to win.
TOTTENHAM (3-4-3): Lloris 6.5; Romero 6, Dier 6, Davies 6; Emerson 7, Bentancur 5.5 (Winks 72min), Hojbjerg 6, Reguilon 5.5; Kulusevski 5 (Moura 64), Kane 5, Son 5 (Bergwijn 87). Booked: Royal, Bentancur, Kulusevski. Subs (not used): Sanchez, Rodon, Sessegnon, Gollini, White, Lavinier. BRIGHTON (3-5-1-1): Sanchez 6; Veltman 7, Dunk 7, Cucurella 7; Lamptey 7 (March 82), Bissouma 7.5, Caicedo 6.5, Gross 7, Trossard 7; Mwepu 6.5 (Welbeck 46, 6); Mac Allister 6.5. Booked: Mwepu, Dunk, Bissouma. Subs (not used): Webster, Maupay, Lallana, Steele, Offiah, Ferguson, Sarmiento. Referee: C Pawson (South Yorkshire) 5.