Harry Kane struck the winner as Tottenham fought their way to an important victory in the race for the top four, beating Brighton 2-1 in a heated contest which saw both managers sent off and the visitors denied three times by VAR.
2022/2023 Premier League
2-1
Match Report
The Italian was a bearded ball of fire and fury all afternoon. He was on the warpath from before the first whistle – berating Cristian Stellini and wagging his finger in the face of his opposite number – until minute 60, when both managers saw red.
They were the fall-guys for a mass ruckus, which emptied both benches and came at the end of an hour of brewing hostilities.
No one will have been more relieved than fourth official Jeremy Simpson that Antonio Conte has been banished from north London.
Before heading down the tunnel – and continuing their war of words – the two bosses were playing peacemaker in a shouting and shoving match that continued while play went on in the background. Oh, yeah, there was a football match here, too. In the end, against any reasonable explanation, Spurs won it. This could prove a big result in the push for Champions League football.
They had led through Son Heung-min’s wonder goal – his 100th in the Premier League – before Lewis Dunk’s header brought Brighton level before half-time. Eleven minutes before the end, however, Harry Kane profited from an error from Kaoru Mitoma to nick all three points. In between, Brighton saw two goals disallowed – both for handball, both contentiously – and three penalty shouts turned down. They were marginal, too.
First the ball hit Clement Lenglet’s arm. Then Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg trod on Mitoma’s foot. And then, late on, Lenglet had a hold of Dunk’s shirt. None was given.
Spurs won’t care. Despite the dissent, despite the chants calling out Daniel Levy. Despite being outplayed for large parts of this. Perhaps it was fortunate that De Zerbi was hidden away come the final whistle.
He and Stellini had clashed as players in Italy. Before this, the Spurs boss remembered an ‘aggressive’ player and praised a ‘great manager’. It proved a rather fitting character assessment, all told.
Certainly their beef proved Kane’s amateur dramatics at Everton was much ado about nothing.
Here, a vein had begun bulging from the neck of De Zerbi after barely 15 minutes, by which time Brighton were a goal down and already paying the price for bad fortune and bad refereeing. At least in the eyes of their manager. There was nothing Jason Steele could do when Son collected the ball just outside the Brighton box and stood up Joel Veltman before shuffling on to his right foot and curling a sublime effort into the far corner. That didn’t stop Brighton complaining, mind. The visitors felt Danny Welbeck had been fouled in the build-up. It looked a marginal call, in truth. One that could have gone either way but rarely falls for visitors in grounds like this.
Much like the early penalty shout against Lenglet, when from the debris of a Brighton, the ball dropped clipped the defender’s arm.
Neither was as contentious, though, as the handball call against Mitoma which chalked off a first Brighton equaliser.
De Zerbi almost missed the chance - he was busy hopping around in frustration, turning to vent at his bench around the same time that Alexis Mac Allister picked out Mitoma, who cushioned the ball and finished beyond Lloris.
The assistant referee gave handball, replay after replay confirmed only one thing: the ball struck somewhere between Mitoma’s arm and shoulder. No blurred image or pixelated clip gave a conclusive answer; eventually, the decision stood.
That did little to soothe De Zerbi’s ire. At least his players maintained cool heads - even as it became increasingly hard to fathom quite how they were behind.
Spurs continued threatened in flashes and the visitors needed brilliant last-ditch challenges from Dunk and Veltman to keep the score at 1-0.
But Brighton were the more cohesive, dangerous – better – team. At times they toyed with Tottenham. Mac Allister had a shot beaten and moments later the outstanding Moises Caicedo struck an effort off the post.
Cue the first smatterings of dissent from the stands. There were a few boos before half-time and sarcastic cheers whenever Hugo Lloris chose to go long.
By then, Spurs had surrendered nearly two thirds of the ball and their lead had evaporated, too. For all the slick interplay that had troubled Tottenham, the equaliser was so simple. Solly March sent a corner to the back post, where Dunk was waiting to head home.
That nearly tipped De Zerbi over the edge. As the visitors celebrated, he began venting and gesturing at Spurs assistant Ryan Mason. A few minutes later, the Italian watched a pass head straight out of play.
He sunk to one knee, he let out a visceral roar. And that vein began popping once more. Half-time did little to break the pattern of this game. Brighton’s collective continued to poke and probe Tottenham, who continued to cause problems thanks to individual brilliance.
Soon, both teams were a manager down. The spark was another disallowed goal for Brighton. This time, Mac Allister was adjudged to have handled the ball after he was struck by Welbeck’s shot. His arms were tucked into his body but the deflection took the ball under Lloris.
That decision, and the ensuing melee, lit the blue touch paper. Tackles flew in, supporters called for Mauricio Pochettino, Hojbjerg trod on Mitoma, who then tried one flick too many – gifting Spurs the ball and Kane the winner.
By then, Stellini was watching from the press box and Mason was in charge. Should he take charge against Bournemouth, will he be interim interim boss?
De Zerbi faces another touchline ban – he’s had two already this season and must be in danger of missing Brighton’s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United. First he’ll have to get over this
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
10' GOAL! Tottenham 1-0 Brighton (Son)
17' Goooal... No! Mitoma’s goal disallowed after VAR review
26' OFF THE POST!
34' GOAL! Tottenham 1-1 Brighton (Dunk)
55' Handball early, Welbeck's goal disallowed
59' Intense conflict, both managers sent off.
79' GOAL! Tottenham 2-1 Brighton (Kane)
Line-ups
Tottenham XI: Lloris, Perisic, Son, Kane, Hojbjerg, Lenglet, Dier, Romero, Skipp, Kulusevski, Pedro Porro
Subs: Fraser Forster, Sanchez, Richarlison, Arnaut Danjuma, Tanganga, Austin, Pape Matar Sarr, Romaine Mundle, Alfie Devine
Brighton XI: Steele, Welbeck, Gross, Veltman, Dunk, March, Pervis Estupiñán, Mac Allister, Kaoru Mitoma, Moisés Caicedo, Levi Colwill
Subs: Webster, Deniz Undav, Robert Sánchez, Gilmour, Jan Paul van Hecke, Julio Enciso, Evan Ferguson, Yasin Ayari, Facundo Buonanotte