Brighton – Tottenham 3-2: Spurs squander a two-goal lead at half-time at the AmEx

It was an ugly, rainy afternoon on the south coast of England as Tottenham Hotspur took on a Brighton side winless in their first five Premier League games. But despite a 2-0 lead at half-time, Tottenham were unable to maintain the intensity and defensive prowess they had shown in the first 45 minutes. Spurs scored three second-half goals – from Yankuba Minteh, Georginio Rutter and a late winner from former Gunner Danny Welbeck – and suffered a disappointing 3-2 defeat at the AmEx Stadium.

The game started rosily for Tottenham, Spurs had a huge chance in the first minute. Timo Werner and Brennan Johnson created space behind Brighton's defensive line, and Timo crossed for an open BJ that was just a foot too far forward for Johnson to convert. Tottenham had many of these opportunities in the first 45 minutes, with Werner Veltman producing a great performance on the left.

Brighton had to make an early substitution after Webster ruptured his Achilles tendon on a goal kick and had to be substituted for Igor.

The Spurs broke through behind Brennan Johnson in the 24th minute. The high press forced a loss of possession in the Brighton half, James Maddison was able to pick out Solanke, who pushed a lovely through ball into the path of Johnson, who fired a ball into the goal. Great goal!

Thanks to James Maddison, Spurs doubled their lead towards the end of the half. Solanke was also the playmaker in this game, this time he supported Timo Werner, who played centrally for Madders, as an ice hockey assistant. The shot should have been saved by Verbruggen, who botched a routine stop, but it still counted and Spurs led 2-0.

Brighton had a few chances in the first half, largely thanks to Kaoru Mitoma, who had an excellent performance on the day. Their best ball was a corner to an open Danny Welbeck, who somehow fired an easy shot past the post.

Brighton got back into the game at the start of the second half when Yankuba Minteh took advantage of two poor defenses from Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie and hit a cross to the back post to make the game 1-2.

The discomfort didn't stop for Spurs. Mitoma chose a counterattack in the 58th minute against Georgino Rutter, who fired a goal in the penalty area but stayed upright and fired a shot past Vicario to make it 2-2. And it got worse – Brighton managed the comeback thanks to Welbeck, who made up for his early miss by heading in Brighton's third goal in the 66th minute.

Postecoglou made a few late substitutions, bringing on Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma in the 78th minute and Mikey Moore in the 85th minute, but despite a few late shots there wasn't enough time for an equalizer, let alone a winning goal. The game ended disappointingly 3-2 for Brighton.

Game reactions:

• Spurs have a tendency to start games well and catch teams off guard with quick attacks, and one day it would be nice to take advantage of those chances instead of wasting them. I look at Timo's cross to Johnson in the first minute and shake my head.
• Brighton did exactly what we expected them to do, which was to come out and try to play football, which led to Tottenham's early dominance. But Spurs allowed Brighton to regain their footing midway through the first half, giving Mitoma far too much space and freedom on the left. It was the same attacking impulses that brought Brighton back into the game in the second half.
• I've said it before, but for all the goals he scores and will score, it's all the other off-ball stuff and the pressing and passing that makes Dom Solanke fit so well with this Tottenham team. His vision is simply extraordinary. He's better than Harry Kane at all of those things that don't involve putting the ball in the net. I owe him an apology, I wasn't familiar with his game.
• Brennan Johnson has scored six goals in six games, the first since Harry Kane in 2019. He is Tottenham's in-form player, even in defeat today.
• Rodrigo Bentancur has been playing very well lately, but not today. He was too easily pushed off the ball or failed to block the midfield defensively, which allowed Brighton to get back into the game.
• There's something going on with Cuti Romero, he seems particularly error prone lately and I don't understand why. Partially responsible for Rutter's equalizer and completely blocked for Welbeck's goal. A terrible game. We need to do an intervention or get him counseling or something.
• Destiny Udogie also had a pretty disappointing game as he was second best defensively and made some rushing challenges. I really expected him to be chosen for Djed Spence.
• I've often been frustrated with Ange's late substitutions during his tenure, but this game felt particularly annoying. By the 65th minute, Spurs looked exhausted and obviously had to make several substitutions that could have changed the overall outcome of this game. Waiting as long as he did after blowing a two-goal lead feels like a leadership failure and I'm mad at him for it.
• There really is no excuse for blowing a 2-0 half-time lead in this way, short of the “most dangerous lead in football”. Individual poor performances from the Spurs defense and unwillingness to be proactive impacted this game against Spurs. Regardless, this is a poor result and it was extremely frustrating to watch the team who were on a five-game winning streak.
• With a win, Spurs could have moved up to sixth place in the table. Instead, Spurs are in ninth place, a point behind Fulham, and have a full international break to make up for this defeat. That's the mood.