This was the kind of Premier League match you could happily watch all weekend: two sides sticking to the ultra-attacking principles of their managers and never afraid to take a risk.
In the end, a last-gasp goal from Spurs substitute Brennan Johnson broke Brighton’s hearts in the cruellest fashion just moments after they had come within inches of snatching the win.
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It was a harsh lesson for Roberto De Zerbi’s assistant Andrea Maldera – the son of a former AC Milan defender – who watched his side take the lead after a penalty from Pascal Gross only for the impressive Pape Matar Sarr to equalise with his third league goal of the season on his return from the African Nations Cup.
But for Ange Postecoglou, this was another famous comeback victory that moved Tottenham back into the top four and underlined their fighting qualities.
Maldera had admitted De Zerbi was “not happy” with his enforced absence after having what Brighton described as “very invasive” dental surgery in Italy this week, although he would have been sitting in the stands here anyway having been given a one-match touchline ban in last week’s 4-1 thumping of Crystal Palace.
Even without their talismanic manager, the visitors went bold from the start as Kaoru Mitoma returned from Asian Cup duty as one of five changes, while Son Heung-min had to be satisfied with a place on the bench for Spurs.
The previous meeting between these two sides six weeks ago saw Brighton race into a 4-0 lead and they were quickest out of the blocks here once again. Micky van de Ven was caught in possession inside the first 30 seconds and it required a full-stretch save from Guglielmo Vicario to tip Danny Welbeck’s shot wide. It was another mistake from the Dutchman after a misplaced pass from Destiny Udogie that gifted Gross the opportunity to score from the spot, which he accepted gratefully.
Falling behind was the prompt for Tottenham to finally wake up and a sumptuous through ball with the outside of his boot from James Maddison almost provided the equaliser but Jason Steele was equal to his shot. The England midfielder then took aim himself after Brighton lost the ball in a dangerous area and was just inches wide of the far post.
Exciting as Posetcoglou might be in attack, however, a defensive lapse is never far away with this Tottenham team and Rodrigo Bentancur was next to oblige when he was dispossessed on the edge of his own area and Vicario came to his rescue to deny Mitoma.
Richarlison looked wonderfully assured in his central role and the Brazilian set up Dejan Kulusevski for a chance that was quickly smothered by Steele. But he was culpable of delaying a pass to Maddison when Spurs found themselves through on goal just on the stroke of half-time.
Postecoglou had found himself in a similar position at half-time against Brentford at the end of last month before his side came out and scored three goals in eight minutes to seal victory. But despite Maddison testing Steele from a free-kick early on, Brighton were not so obliging and showed they also possess considerable defensive mettle. Son was sent out to warm up within minutes of the restart as a mazy dribble from Timo Werner ended with his shot being deflected wide before Welbeck was on hand to help out his defence by blocking a Kulusevski cross.
Yet rather than die wondering when Spurs would equalise, Maldera withdrew midfielder Adam Lallana and replaced him with forward Ansu Fati. It was another bold gamble, albeit one that backfired almost immediately when Sarr burst into the box and saw his initial cross defected onto the post by Lewis Dunk, only for the Senegal midfielder to bury the rebound from a tight angle.
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That was the moment for Son to make his long-awaited return as Postecoglou took his opportunity to roll the dice with a triple substitution. But their best chance came when Johnson could only direct his shot straight at Steele as Brighton weathered the storm after the equaliser and had their chance to snatch all three points when Welbeck stabbed his effort just wide.
Substitute Benicio Baker-Boaitey saw his shot whistle past the post as Postecoglou watched on impassively before the match-winning moment arrived when Johnson touched home Son’s cross at the far post to lift the roof off.
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