Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion: 5 talking points as Mourinho's men move into 2nd | Premier League 2020-21
Tottenham Hotspur moved into second place in the Premier League table tonight with a tough win over Brighton & Hove Albion at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Tottenham were looking to rebound from a disappointing Europa League defeat to Royal Antwerp and started the match in imperious form. It took a penalty from Harry Kane to put them into the lead, but early on, at least, it felt like business as usual for Jose Mourinho's men.
However, Graham Potter’s Seagulls began to dominate play late into the first half and eventually found an equalizer – albeit a controversial one – from Tariq Lamptey.
Tottenham hit back, though, and with just over 15 minutes remaining, Gareth Bale headed home to win the match for his side. Brighton threw men forward to look for another equalizer. But this time there was no sting in the tail, and Mourinho’s men collected another three points.
Here are 5 talking points from Tottenham’s win over Brighton.
#1 Tottenham’s winner was made in Madrid
Much has been made about Tottenham’s apparently successful transfer window this season, and tonight’s winner affirmed that positive feeling. With Spurs desperate to make the breakthrough following Brighton’s controversial equalizer, boss Jose Mourinho decided to introduce Gareth Bale to the fray. It didn’t take long for the Welshman to make an impact.
After Tottenham cut out a Brighton attack, a beautiful cross-field pass from Toby Alderweireld found Sergio Reguilon in acres of space. And from there, the Spaniard cut the ball back onto his weaker right foot – sending a picture-perfect cross onto the head of Bale, who headed home past Seagulls keeper Robert Sanchez.
It was Bale’s first goal since returning to Tottenham from Real Madrid, with his last one coming against Sunderland in May 2013. And in the bigger picture of the current season – with Spurs now moving into second place – it could be one of his most important in a long time.
The fact that it was Reguilon – Bale’s former teammate at the Bernabeu – who provided the cross only made things even sweeter. This was a Tottenham goal firmly made in Madrid, and was a worthy winner of this game.
#2 What was referee Graham Scott thinking when he awarded Brighton’s goal?
Despite Tottenham running out 2-1 winners in tonight’s game, plenty of press coverage will no doubt be handed to Brighton’s equalizing goal. There can be no doubt about the finish's quality – former Chelsea youngster Tariq Lamptey got onto the end of Pascal Gross’s pass perfectly and slotted home with aplomb.
However, it appeared clear to everyone on the pitch that during the build-up to the goal, Solly March had fouled Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. There seemed to be no doubt that the goal would be overturned by VAR, particularly when replays from multiple angles appeared to confirm the infringement.
However, in a baffling call, referee Graham Scott consulted the pitchside monitors – and decided to allow the goal to stand. To say that Tottenham’s players were shell-shocked would be a massive understatement.
Quite how Scott could decide that Hojbjerg had not been fouled is anyone’s guess. The most likely theory is that because he was so close to the incident in real-time and hadn’t given a foul, he simply didn’t feel comfortable in admitting a clear mistake. But surely that’s the reason for VAR in the first place?
Although the goal thankfully didn’t affect this game's eventual result, it’ll still be looked upon as one of the most controversial of 2020. On this evidence, VAR still isn’t working correctly.