Spurs 0-1 Brighton: Albion confirm their place as the best team in London

Here is a radical idea following Spurs 0-1 Brighton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Tony Bloom should deconstruct the Amex, move the pieces to London and then rebuild the stadium brick-by-brick in the capital.

Forget wanting to become an established top 10 club, the Albion would be title contenders if they played in London every week based on results this season.

In the space of seven sunny April days, Brighton have won at Arsenal and now a short hop up the road at Spurs. Two Premier League victories in North London in a week compared to three wins at the Amex in nine months.

It is not just the N7 and N17 postcodes that the Albion have a penchant for. There was a 1-0 win at Brentford in September, late equalisers to earn draws against Palace in Croydon and West Ham in East London.

European Champions Chelsea also found themselves on the end of a last minute leveller as they were held in West London.

And whilst Watford may not technically be London, for the purposes of this (and the fact you can get there via the Underground), we are counting it. So add February’s 2-0 win at Vicarage Road to the list.

15 points from seven games in the capital city matches the 15 that the Albion have picked up from 16 games in Sussex.

Sack off signing a new striker, the best way to move Brighton even higher up the league looks to be building a new stadium in Hyde Park or ground sharing with Millwall.

Of all those points and prizes won in London this season, Spurs 0-1 Brighton was the most impressive. Tottenham had been in rampant form coming into the game, winning five out of six and scoring 21 times across those fixtures to reignite their hopes of a top four finish.

Graham Potter though had a game plan and it worked to perfection. Sometimes, his whacky ideas leave you scratching your head with befuddlement – like Pascal Gross playing left at Burnley on the opening day of the season, the sort of idea you could not even imagine Phil Mitchell on crack devising.

On other occasions though, he genuinely appears to be a manager destined for the top. Whatever the hell that formation he played in the 2-1 win at Arsenal with five central midfielders crammed into various roles was one example.

A week later and again he got it spot on. Brighton nullified the threat of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min to the point where Spurs had only five shots all afternoon and none on target.

Yves Bissouma was outstanding in his deep midfield role, giving the sort of performance that will remind any summer suitor that he is worth paying through the nose for even as he enters the final year of his Albion contract.

Potter opted to go without a recognised centre forward. Alexis Mac Allister played as a false nine with Enock Mwepu as a number 10 just behind.

Spurs seemed utterly bemused by this, presumably because when the teams were announced they would have expected Leandro Trossard to lead the line based on personnel.

Trossard instead was used wide on the left, the position he had excelled in and scored from against Arsenal. The Vampire of Genk repeated the trick, weaving into the Spurs box in the final minute before producing a clinical finish past Hugo Lloris.

That vocal minority of Brighton fans who bizarrely do not rate Pascal Gross were spitting feathers at his inclusion in the starting XI again.

Gross’ response to the doubters? Just what it always is, a superb performance. He created as many opportunities for Brighton by himself as Spurs managed as a combined team.

Anyone who still thinks Gross is not worth offering a renewed deal to keep him at the Amex (or Hyde Park or the Den) beyond this summer should frankly be sectioned.

A disciplined Albion performance frustrated Tottenham for much of the first half of Spurs 0-1 Brighton. Emerson Royal got in down the right early on but his cross was dealt with by Robert Sanchez in what proved to be the hosts’ only chance of any note in the opening 45 minutes.

Brighton managed a couple of half-opportunities. Mwepu saw an effort deflected wide, Joel Veltman had one blocked and Mac Allister was unable to make the most of two promising moments.

One came where he could not stretch to reach a Tariq Lampety cross and another when the ball was snatched off him as he was about to pull the trigger.

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is developing a reputation for hosting big boxing bouts. There were some moments of violence in Spurs 0-1 Brighton in keeping with that.

Dejan Kulusevski was lucky to only receive a yellow when driving an elbow into the chest of Marc Cucurella. Rodrigo Bentancur later lunged in on Bissouma, Spurs deciding that the only way they could dispossess the Malian midfielder when he was in this sort of form being to kick him to pieces.

Brighton were not entirely innocent themselves, and when we say Brighton what we actually mean is Mwepu. The Computer embarked on a one-man cybercrime spree before the interval, somehow surviving without picking up a second booking after a wave of fouls.

Potter knew that the Albion were fortunate to have 11 men on the pitch by the time the break rolled around. He reacted by withdrawing Mwepu in favour of Danny Welbeck.

The Spurs crowd had already been relentlessly booing Mwepu due to his interesting approach; now they had another pantomime villain to tuck into with a former Arsenal player entering proceedings.

Potter was not the only one who had a busy half time. One could only imagine the rage Antonio Conte displayed towards his team after such a lacklustre first half.

The result was that Tottenham were improved for the start of the second, enjoying their best spell immediately after the restart.

Son had his first sight of goal just before the hour mark. Veltman though read the danger superbly and was in the right place at the right time to block.

Surprisingly, it was Trossard who was next to deny Spurs’ top scorer with a great block after chasing back into the area. The last time Trossard had been seen defending in the Brighton box, he had conceded a penalty away at Palace.

Without that moment of madness, the Albion might have won at Selhurst Park and own an even more impressive record in London.

Mac Allister tested Lloris before firing another chance over. Lamptey looked very much refreshed for only being on the bench at Arsenal a week earlier and he drew a good save from the Spurs goalkeeper.

Tottenham’s weakness defending crosses into the box is well known – they have conceded the fifth most opportunities from set pieces delivered into the box in the Premier League this season.

As the game drew to a close, it looked like an aerial route might be the Albion’s best chance of breaking the deadlock.

Welbeck headed over and Dunk forced Lloris into what was ultimately a routine stop from a similar scenario. Brighton would probably have taken a draw at that point even though their performance was worthy of all three.

They got their just deserts at the game ticked into the 90th minute. Trossard, Welbeck and substitute Adam Lallana linked up down the left but the danger appeared over when Lallana stumbled and was tackled.

The loose ball though found its way to an alert Trossard. He glided past Eric Dier and towards Lloris before using the outside of his right boot to bend an effort out of the reach of the Spurs goalkeeper and into the back of the net.

3,000 Brighton fans in the sun-soaked away corner of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium went wild. The scenes afterwards will live long in the memory as the players saluted the travelling support whilst Spurs fans slunk away having seen their side lose at home to the Albion for the first time since 1981.

London is well and truly ours.