Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion: 3 reasons why Spurs won the game | Premier League 2019-20
Tottenham Hotspur welcomed Brighton & Hove Albion to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Boxing Day in the Premier League looking to bounce back from their weekend’s debacle. Jose Mourinho’s wards were convincingly defeated by Chelsea in a game that was marred by a red card as well as racial abuses from the stands. Spurs were desperate to put those incidents behind them and get closer to the top 4. Their opponents on Thursday, however, were no pushovers either.
The Seagulls had already defeated Tottenham 3-0 in October at the Amex Stadium, a game that had brought Mauricio Pochettino closer to the sack. Brighton had not been in the best run of form of late, even though they were 5 points clear of the relegation zone. However, Spurs had developed a habit of conceding goals since the appointment of Mourinho, a fact that gave Graham Potter a thin ray of hope. Mourinho knew that he could not afford any more slips as the league headed towards the midway point of the season and he named his team accordingly.
Tottenham Hotspur Starting XI: Paulo Gazzaniga; Serge Aurier, Davinson Sanchez, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Ryan Sessegnon; Harry Winks, Moussa Sissoko; Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Lucas Moura
Tottenham started the game on the front foot, but it was the away side who took control of the game when Adam Webster scored in the 37th minute. The game went into the break with Brighton leading 1-0. In the second half, Kane scored the equalizer in the 53rd minute, before Alli put the home team ahead in the 72nd minute and secured all 3 points for Tottenham. Here are the 3 reasons why Spurs won the game.
#3 Improved second-half performance
Early in the first half, it looked like Kane had given Tottenham the lead, but it was disallowed by VAR. The home side never really recovered from that setback in the half and struggled to cause the away side too many worries. Webster’s goal only made the evening worse and the home team were booed off during the break.
However, Spurs improved massively in the second half and were rewarded with an early goal. The home team took the game to Brighton and showed a desire that was missing in the first half. Tottenham went on to score a deserved winner and ultimately completed an impressive comeback.
