In a thrilling Premier League encounter on Saturday, Tottenham Hotspur managed to edge past Brighton & Hove Albion with a 2-1 victory, pushing them back into the top four.
The winning goal came deep into stoppage time, courtesy of substitute Brennan Johnson, who slammed a low cross from Tottenham’s captain, Son Heung-min, high into the net.
Son had started on the bench after returning from his Asian Cup duty, but his introduction in the second half proved to be a game-changer.
The Korean international provided the assist for Johnson’s winner, provoking the loudest cheer of the day from the Tottenham faithful.
However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Tottenham, who had to come from behind after conceding an early penalty to Brighton’s Pascal Gross.
Danny Welbeck was fouled in the area, and Gross made no mistake from the spot.
Tottenham struggled to find their rhythm in the first half but improved significantly after the break.
They equalized in the 61st minute through Pape Matar Sarr, who tucked in a rebound after his initial low cross had deflected against the post.
The game was evenly poised, and a point for each side would have been a fair result.
However, Johnson’s late strike sent the Tottenham fans into raptures and secured all three points for the home team.
The win takes Tottenham above Aston Villa and into fourth place, with 47 points from 24 games.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou was pleased with the result, saying, “It was a great finish for us and the supporters. It’s a reward for our second-half efforts, but we weren’t great in the first half. Part of that was because Brighton is a great team, and we lacked some discipline.”
READ ALSO: https://thecrux.org.ng/epl-fulham-ends-winless-run-defeating-wolves-3-1/
Postecoglou was also full of praise for Son, who has become Tottenham’s talisman since Harry Kane’s departure.
“We had a world-class player in Son, who makes the most difficult ball look simple to set up Brennan,” he said.
Son was back in action earlier than expected after South Korea’s surprise defeat by Jordan in the Asian Cup semi-finals.
The defeat was heartbreaking for Son, who had scored three goals in the tournament on top of the 13 he has provided for his club.
Postecoglou opted against throwing him on straight away, but when Son did come on, he proved to be a game-changer, giving Tottenham a new level of energy.
Brighton was without their manager, Roberto De Zerbi, who served a touchline ban.
They had taken the lead in the 17th minute after Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven was penalized for fouling Danny Welbeck in the area.
However, Tottenham was far sharper in the second half, and Sarr’s cool finish came as Brighton came under siege.
The visitors regrouped and looked just as likely to emerge with the three points.
Substitute Ansu Fati was a whisker away from restoring Brighton’s lead as his shot from Kaoru Mitoma’s cutback drifted just wide.
In the end, Brighton’s adventurous spirit was their undoing as they were caught on a turnover, with Son and Johnson combining to punish the visitors and secure the win for Tottenham.
