Brighton & Hove Albion produced a remarkable second-half comeback as Georginio Rutter scored one and helped set up another in a THRILLING 3-2 home victory over Tottenham Hotspur.
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Ange Postecoglou's side had won their last five games in all competitions and came flying out the blocks at Amex Stadium as in-form Brennan Johnson scored for a sixth straight outing.
James Maddison doubled the visitors' lead before the break, helped by Bart Verbruggen's poor handling, but Yankuba Minteh halved that deficit after the restart.
Rutter restored parity prior to the hour-mark before playing a key role in the third goal, edging past numerous Spurs defenders, with his cross deflecting up for Danny Welbeck to head in and seal a memorable turnaround.
Verbruggen was still required to deny Destiny Udogie late on, however, as Fabian Hurzeler's side held on for a victory that lifted them up to sixth, three places above Spurs.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
17 | 0 | 28 |
| 7 |
Man City
MCI
|
17 | +4 | 27 |
| 8 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
17 | +6 | 26 |
| 9 |
Fulham
FUL
|
17 | +2 | 25 |
| 10 |
Brighton
BHA
|
17 | +1 | 25 |
| 11 |
Spurs
TOT
|
17 | +14 | 23 |
How the match unfolded
Maddison saw a 21st-minute finish ruled out for an earlier offside against Pedro Porro, though there was no denying the visitors two minutes later when Dominic Solanke's well-weighted pass teed up Johnson's sweeping left-footed strike.
Spurs continued to dominate and found further reward when Maddison's tame attempt from Timo Werner's cutback somehow squirmed through Verbruggen's grasp.
An error at the other end offered Brighton hope when Udogie made a mess of clearing Kaoru Mitoma's left-wing delivery, with Minteh slamming in from close range on 48 minutes.
The hosts were back on level terms 10 minutes later when Mitoma’s delicate through-ball freed Rutter, who danced around two Spurs defenders before firing a low left-footed finish past the helpless Guglielmo Vicario.
And Rutter proved the difference for Brighton’s winner, battling to the byline past three Spurs defenders before lunging to lift a cross, which looped up off Rodrigo Bentancur, towards the six-yard box, where Welbeck was waiting to cap off a stunning comeback win.
Attacking brilliance masks Brighton's high-line issues
Hurzeler made a great start, with back-to-back victories over Everton and Manchester United in his first two games in charge, but a four-game winless run in the league brought questions heading into this contest.
Brighton's insistence on playing a high line was exposed in a 4-2 thrashing by Chelsea last time out, and the same strategy posed further issues in a one-sided first half.
Yet Hurzeler found a solution, removing struggling left-back Ferdi Kadioglu at half-time to introduce Pervis Estupinan, who offered defensive cover.
Further joy followed down that same side as Mitoma, who also created a glorious chance for Welbeck in the first half, then tested the hands of Vicario with a low drive.
It was Mitoma again who smartly ghosted into an inside pocket of space before sliding through for Rutter, who made the most out of a half-chance to punish Spurs' fragile defence.
Hurzeler will know his team are by no means the finished article, with numerous concerns at the back, though Rutter and Mitoma's attacking brilliance will have Brighton hopeful of further climbing the table when they visit Newcastle United after the international break.
Setback for Spurs
On the back of last week’s dominant win at Old Trafford, Postecoglou promised Spurs would not relent from their usual attacking principles on the south coast, and the away side delivered another exciting performance in the first half.
Werner burst through Brighton's high line before his sliding across evaded the stretch of Johnson after less than a minute – and that was a sign of things to come.
Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski were both denied by fine blocks in the early stages, too, before Solanke showed brilliant intelligence to drop deep and play through both Brighton's centre-backs to tee up Johnson's opener.
Solanke's expert centre-forward play proved fruitful for Spurs' second as well, with the former AFC Bournemouth striker dropping deep to free Werner, whose offload set up Maddison's fortuitous finish.
Johnson blazed another presentable opening over after Kulusevski's fine pass, though defensive issues came back to haunt Postecoglou's men from then on.
Udogie and Cristian Romero were left wanting for Minteh's strike, with Micky van de Ven also beaten too easily for Rutter's leveller before the Frenchman brushed off three of Postecoglou's defenders to create Welbeck's winner.
For all of Spurs' attacking excitement, Postecoglou must find solutions at the back. West Ham United are up next for Spurs.
Club reports
Brighton report | Spurs report
What the managers said
Fabian Hurzeler: "My team deserved to win, they worked hard and focused on the things they could control. I think Tottenham always have a great start. They play with intensity and we were not ready for that. We also created chances but defensively we have to improve.
"We focused on the positive things, the second important thing was to win the duels to build self-confidence. The players worked hard to gain flow and they used it. In general I leaned nothing new, this is always possible in football. When you are 2-0 down it is not easy but it was important to stay positive and I’m really happy for the players."
Ange Postecoglou: "Disappointing. Frustrated and absolutely gutted with that. Worst defeat since I've been here. Unacceptable second half. Nowhere near where we should be. We got carried away with how were were going.
"We kind of accepted our fate and it is hard to understand as we've not done that while I've been here. We paid the price. The problem is we are travelling along too smoothly, football and life will trip you up if you get too far ahead of yourself."
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Match facts
This is the 10th time that Spurs have lost a Premier League game in which they led by 2+ goals, the first club to hit double figures for this, and at least three more than any other side in the competition's history.
Spurs' Brennan Johnson has scored in each of his last six appearances in all competitions, the first Spurs’ player to do so since Harry Kane between December 2018 and January 2019. The winger has now netted more goals in 10 appearances this season (six) than across 34 total outings for Spurs in 2023/24 (five).
Yankuba Minteh (20y 76d) is the youngest African player to score in the Premier League since Ghana’s Tariq Lamptey (20y 32d) in November 2020, also for Brighton against Tottenham. The forward is the second Gambian player to net in the competition after Modou Barrow for Swansea v Bournemouth in March 2016.
