Spurs regain fourth place after 2-1 victory against Brighton.  Brennan Johnson’s stoppage-time strike secured three points for Tottenham Hotspur as they beat Brighton 2-1 and propelled them back into fourth place in the Premier League. The substitute fired high into the net from a low cross by captain Son Heung-min, who had come off the bench after returning from Asian Cup duty. Son’s introduction, shortly after Pape Matar Sarr had equalised for Spurs, provoked the loudest cheer of the day until Johnson’s winner in the seventh minute of added time.

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It had been difficult for Tottenham, who conceded a Pascal Gross penalty after Danny Welbeck was fouled in the 17th minute. Their game improved in the second half, however, and a Sarr rebound in the 61st minute levelled the scores.

Tottenham

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou acknowledged it was a tough win, saying “It’s a reward for our second-half efforts but we weren’t great in the first half. Part of that was because Brighton are a great team and we lacked some discipline.” The manager, who finally has the luxury of an almost full-strength squad, praised Son: “We had a world-class player in Son, who makes the most difficult ball look simple to set up Brennan”. Son had returned to action earlier than expected after South Korea’s surprise defeat by Jordán in the Asian Cup semi-finals. The defeat was heartbreak for Son, who had scored three goals in the tournament on top of the thirteen he had provided for Tottenham.

Brighton took the lead in the 17th minute after Tottenham’s Micky van De Ven fouled Danny Welbeck in the area and Gross scored from the penalty spot. In-form Tottenham striker Richarlison failed to convert his team’s best opportunities before halftime, and James Maddison’s stunning effort just missed the target. Sarr’s leveler eventually came as Brighton came under siege, and the visitors looked just as likely to win after that. Ansu Fati almost restored Brighton’s lead with a shot that drifted just wide from Kaoru Mitoma’s cutback.

-Afrogazette-