Brighton 4-2 Tottenham: Joao Pedro scores two penalties in win for Seagulls
Eight of Joao Pedro’s 13 goals for Brighton this season have come from the penalty spotA superb display saw Brighton overcome Tottenham in the Premier League at the Amex Stadium.
Spurs dominated the early possession but the hosts took control when teenager Jack Hinshelwood fired into the roof of the net after Joao Pedro was allowed to drift across the length of the 18-yard line.
Pedro doubled the Seagulls’ lead from the penalty spot after Dejan Kulusevski had pulled back Danny Welbeck in the area.
Brighton continued to press, with James Milner hitting the post and Facundo Buonanotte having a goal disallowed for offside, before Richarlison also clipped the woodwork for the visitors.
Spurs failed to have a shot on target in the first half but improved in the second period, with Richarlison twice seeing efforts ruled out for offside.
Visit our dedicated Brighton pageGet to all of BBC Sport’s Tottenham contentHowever, Brighton made sure of the three points less than a minute after the second of those when Pervis Estupinan fired a brilliant 25-yard dipping effort into the top corner.
Pedro added a fourth goal when he sent Guglielmo Vicario the wrong way from the spot again after Evan Ferguson was bundled over in the area.
Tottenham threatened an unlikely comeback after Alejo Veliz and Ben Davies pulled two back, but Spurs could not convert a string of other late chances.
“We played fantastic football for 80 minutes and then we were unlucky in the first goal we conceded,” Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi told BBC Match of the Day.
“I think this season it was the best performance. Not just for Joao Pedro and Billy Gilmour, I am speaking in general for Brighton.”
The win sees Brighton climb above Newcastle into eighth, while Spurs stay fifth, a point behind fourth-placed Manchester City.
Fired-up Brighton deliverA week without a game has been a rare luxury in Brighton’s season as they experience European football for the first time, but they used the break to their advantage.
After allowing Spurs to have the ball early on, they were soon all over them, launching attack after attack.
De Zerbi has bemoaned Brighton’s reliance on youth recently, but 18-year-old Hinshelwood was superb at right-back and took his goal with aplomb.
His strike was Brighton’s 19th by a teenager in the Premier League in 2023 – Manchester United have the second most with four. Brighton’s tally has only been bettered twice in Premier League history by Liverpool in 1998 (25) and 1994 (22).
Pedro was a constant handful, looking to exploit Spurs’ high defensive line, and took both of his penalties clinically.
Estupinan’s excellent strike put the gloss on the win, with the Ecuador left-back featuring for the first time since 30 September.
There will be disappointment they were unable to keep a clean sheet – they have now conceded in 23 straight league games – and that they had to weather a late storm, with De Zerbi throwing a water bottle in frustration during stoppage time.
All in all, this was a display that served as a reminder of what Brighton can do as we reach the halfway mark of the season.
“I am really lucky to be this coach of this team with these players. I am very pleased with the passion they have, they have everything,” added De Zerbi.
“You can’t forget we are Brighton. Sometimes they forget we are Brighton. We are not Manchester United, Manchester City, Newcastle or Arsenal, we are still Brighton.”
Reinforcements needed for threadbare SpursFor much of the game, this felt like one game too many for Spurs’ threadbare squad.
Boss Ange Postecoglou was forced into two changes, with centre-back Christian Romero ruled out for more than a month with a hamstring injury and midfielder Oliver Skipp out with a knock.
For the majority of the match, Spurs’ defence was run ragged and the midfield was simply outclassed and outfought by Brighton.
Postecoglou has made no secret of his desire to add defensive reinforcements in the January transfer window and this will only intensify that search, with full-back Emerson Royal struggling centrally and Eric Dier, who was an unused substitute, clearly not fancied.
Spurs did look a threat going forward throughout, but Richarlison was ill-disciplined as he led the line, with the run for his second disallowed goal particularly poorly judged.
Postecoglou will be happy with the late spirit his side showed as Veliz scored his first goal for the club and Davies powered home a back-post header.
They then laid siege to Brighton’s goal, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg hitting the post and Pedro Porro’s follow-up being blocked behind, but ultimately they left themselves too much to do.
“It is fair to say we looked like a tired team today,” Postecoglou told Match of the Day.
“We’ve asked a lot of these players for a very long time and we lacked a little bit of energy today. They are a good team and we struggled to cope with them.
“We hung in there and that’s all you can ask for, they left everything out there.”
Player of the match
MilnerJames Milner
with an average of 7.72
Brighton & Hove AlbionSquad number6Player nameMilner
Squad number9Player nameJoão Pedro
Squad number30Player nameEstupiñán
Squad number11Player nameGilmour
Squad number5Player nameDunk
Squad number41Player nameHinshelwood
Squad number18Player nameWelbeck
Squad number28Player nameFerguson
Squad number13Player nameGroß
Squad number29Player namevan Hecke
Squad number14Player nameLallana
Squad number40Player nameBuonanotte
Squad number3Player nameIgor Julio
Squad number15Player nameModer
Squad number20Player nameBaleba
Squad number23Player nameSteele
Tottenham HotspurSquad number13Player nameVicario
Squad number36Player nameVéliz
Squad number7Player nameSon Heung-min
Squad number38Player nameUdogie
Squad number33Player nameDavies
Squad number22Player nameJohnson
Squad number23Player namePorro
Squad number5Player nameHøjbjerg
Squad number9Player nameRicharlison
Squad number21Player nameKulusevski
Squad number29Player nameSarr
Squad number11Player nameGil
Squad number18Player nameLo Celso
Squad number12Player nameEmerson Royal
Line-upsBrightonFormation 4-1-2-1-2
23Steele
41Hinshelwood29van Hecke5Dunk3dos Santos de Paulo
11Gilmour
13Groß6Milner
40Buonanotte
18Welbeck9João Pedro
23Steele41Hinshelwood29van Hecke5DunkBooked at 82mins3dos Santos de PauloSubstituted forEstupiñánat 45’minutes11Gilmour13Groß6MilnerSubstituted forModerat 69’minutesBooked at 70mins40BuonanotteBooked at 43minsSubstituted forBalebaat 59’minutes18WelbeckSubstituted forFergusonat 69’minutes9João PedroSubstituted forLallanaat 90+3’minutesSubstitutes1Verbruggen8Dahoud14Lallana15Moder20Baleba28Ferguson30Estupiñán47Baker-Boaitey53BarringtonTottenhamFormation 4-2-3-1
13Vicario
23Porro12Emerson Royal33Davies38Udogie
29Sarr5Højbjerg
22Johnson21Kulusevski7Son Heung-min
9Richarlison
13Vicario23Porro12Emerson Royal33Davies38Udogie29SarrSubstituted forGilat 65’minutes5Højbjerg22JohnsonSubstituted forVélizat 70’minutes21KulusevskiBooked at 23mins7Son Heung-min9RicharlisonBooked at 57minsSubstituted forLo Celsoat 65’minutesSubstitutes11Gil15Dier18Lo Celso20Forster35Phillips36Véliz58de Santiago Alonso63Donley65DorringtonReferee:Jarred Gillett
Attendance:31,675
Live TextMatch ends, Brighton and Hove Albion 4, Tottenham Hotspur 2.
Second Half ends, Brighton and Hove Albion 4, Tottenham Hotspur 2.
Attempt missed. Bryan Gil (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from the left side of the box is too high. Assisted by Destiny Udogie.
Attempt missed. Son Heung-Min (Tottenham Hotspur) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Bryan Gil with a cross.
Giovani Lo Celso (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion).
Emerson Royal (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion).
Attempt missed. Son Heung-Min (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Giovani Lo Celso.
Corner, Tottenham Hotspur. Conceded by Pervis Estupiñán.
Attempt blocked. Pedro Porro (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (Tottenham Hotspur) hits the right post with a right footed shot from the left side of the box. Assisted by Destiny Udogie.
Substitution, Brighton and Hove Albion. Adam Lallana replaces João Pedro.
Attempt missed. Dejan Kulusevski (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Emerson Royal.
Attempt blocked. Alejo Véliz (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from the left side of the six yard box is blocked. Assisted by Giovani Lo Celso with a cross.
Foul by Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion).
Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Jack Hinshelwood (Brighton and Hove Albion).
Bryan Gil (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Goal! Brighton and Hove Albion 4, Tottenham Hotspur 2. Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur) header from very close range to the top right corner. Assisted by Pedro Porro with a cross following a corner.
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