Tottenham Hotspur had to accept a painful defeat in the Premier League. Manager Ange Postecoglou's team proved to be no match for the much sharper Brighton & Hove Albion: 4-2. At halftime the supreme ones stood Seagulls already 2-0 ahead thanks to Jack Hinshelwood and João Pedro. After a strong fifteen minutes after Tottenham's break, Pervis Estupiñán and João Pedro decided the game, before Alejo Véliz and Ben Davies did something back. Thanks to the victory, Brighton climbs to eighth place, while Tottenham remains stuck in fifth place.

On the Brighton side there was one Dutchman in the starting line-up: Jan Paul van Hecke. Joël Veltman was missing due to a knee injury, while Bart Verbruggen was on the bench in favor of Jason Steele. Brighton also had to make do without star player Kaoru Mitoma, who is reportedly out for six weeks with an ankle injury. Micky van de Ven was still missing at Tottenham. Davies replaced the Dutch international once again. Striker Richarlison was supported by Heung-min Son, Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson.

The opening phase was undoubtedly for Brighton, who had already created two excellent opportunities within five minutes. After a nice one-two, Danny Welbeck met Guglielmo Vicario, who had to take action again moments later. After Facundo Buonanotte's cracked shot, the ball ended up at the feet of Welbeck, who had to freely acknowledge his superiority in Vicario again.

Brighton gained confidence from the play shown and still took the lead. João Pedro made a nice dribble and passed perfectly to Hinshelwood. Veltman's replacement hit the ball hard through the middle: 1-0. Brighton continued to press and Tottenham had to thank Vicario and some luck that the deficit did not increase. João Pedro shot hard against the Italian goalkeeper and Van Hecke headed against the post from a corner kick.

?????????????????? ?? Jack Hinshelwood hits hard and leaves Vicario without a chance? ?? https://t.co/FlRAJHR4JE#ViaplaySportNL #ViaplayFootball #PremierLeague #BHATOT pic.twitter.com/1FzPTeVhkQ

— Viaplay Sport Nederland (@viaplaysportnl) December 28, 2023

With Van Hecke's chance, Welbeck was very ostentatiously pulled by Kulusevski's shirt. Referee Jarred Gillett was called to the VAR screen and eventually pointed to the spot. João Pedro took responsibility and sent Vicario into the wrong corner: 2-0. Tottenham seemed to be biting away for a moment, but the big danger once again came from Brighton. James Milner fired a curled shot from the edge of sixteen, which hit the post out of reach of Vicario. On the other hand, Tottenham had their best chance, but it was not lost due to a bad assumption from Johnson.

Brighton continued to look for attack and Tottenham simply had no answer to that. The openings were often created through long balls from the back, in which Van Hecke played an important role. Pedro Porro also helped Brighton by unintentionally sending João Pedro deep. The Brazilian scored, but this time Vicario had an answer. Just before half time, Tottenham came close to making it 2-1. Richarlison saw his attempt from the edge of the sixteen go wide via the outside of the post.

Things had to improve significantly after the interruption for Tottenham, who thought they had made it 2-1 within a minute. Richarlison rounded off, but was found to have been in an offside position. It did mean the start of a strong phase for the Londoners, who came close twice again. For example, Richarlison shot just wide after Billy Gilmour lost the ball and Destiny Udogie shot into Steele from close range. Things weren't going well for Tottenham either. Richarlison scored again in an offside position.

On the other hand, Estupiñán decided the game. The Ecuadorian, who last played on November 9 due to injuries, saw room to take action and shot the ball into the crossbar with a devastating bang: 3-0. It didn't stop there. Fifteen minutes before the end, Brighton were allowed to take a penalty after a clumsy foul by Giovanni Lo Celso on Evan Ferguson. João Pedro once again got behind the ball and scored his second of the evening: 4-0.

???????????????? ?? Pervis Estupiñán returns after months of injuries and does this. Good Lord ?? ?? https://t.co/FlRAJHR4JE#ViaplaySportNL #ViaplayFootball #PremierLeague #BHATOT pic.twitter.com/WSIP9AgFEG

— Viaplay Sport Nederland (@viaplaysportnl) December 28, 2023

Yet the tension returned for a while. Véliz took advantage of Lewis Dunk's loss of ball and scored his first goal the Spurs: 4-1. Davies also headed the 4-2 against the ropes five minutes before the end. In the nine minutes of injury time, Tottenham continued to push. The 4-3 almost fell, if it weren't for Pierre-Emile Højbjerg's shot that hit the post.

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