Kane strike secures Spurs a special victory for Ventrone

FOR ANTONIO CONTE and Tottenham, the emotions were painfully raw and impossible to contain at times as they ended a difficult week by fighting their way to a victory they dedicated to their lost fitness guru.

Harry Kane scored the only goal of the game at Brighton, a glancing header in the first half, and pointed to the sky in subdued celebration, in memory of Gian Piero Ventrone, who died suddenly last week at the age of 61.

Ventrone was on everyone’s minds at the Amex Stadium.

Conte was distraught during the minute’s applause for his friend before kick-off, as Italian flags fluttered in the away end and team manager Allan Dixon held a white Spurs shirt with ‘Gian Piero’ printed on the back.

The man dubbed ‘The Marine’ during his days at Juventus would have been proud of their fighting spirit and resilience as they survived Brighton’s late pressure and returned to winning ways after a painful defeat at Arsenal and a goalless draw at Eintracht Frankfurt.

The victory keeps Tottenham within three points of Premier League leaders Manchester City after nine games.

Son Heung-min forced Robert Sanchez to make an early save with a swerving free-kick, and then lashed another effort over.

Kane was booked for handball as he chased a pass into the penalty area and Sanchez pushed a crisp effort wide from Rodrigo Bentancur, venturing further forward than usual with the added security of Bissouma in midfield. Tottenham found the breakthrough from the corner. Brighton cleared Son’s initial set-piece but Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg collected the loose ball and returned it to Son, who evaded a flimsy challenge by Leandro Trossard and picked out Kane, who headed home from six yards and celebrated by pointing his index fingers towards the sky in memory of Ventrone. Once behind, Brighton stirred into action. Until then, in Roberto de Zerbi’s first home game in charge, they had been limited to a couple of brisk attacking moves and a Danny Welbeck shot which flashed low across goal. They finished the first half with an excellent spell of pressure, however, and Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris made saves to deny Moises Caceido and Welbeck.

Brighton were not about to accept defeat easily but Conte’s team can be dangerous when ahead against a team taking risks. Kane seemed certain to score his second when he rolled clear of Dunk onto his right foot, only to drag the shot wide.

Son produced a superb finish from 25 yards only to find the flag up for offside.

‘A difficult day to say the least,’ said Kane. ‘So it was nice to get the win.’