Brighton and Hove Albion hadn’t won a home game since Boxing Day and Tottenham Hotspur were coming into this match on March 16th on the back of a sobering Cristiano Ronaldo hatchet job at Old Trafford. Antonio Conte’s side started the game needing three points to keep in the race for the top four and it was another Harry Kane record breaking night that kept that dream alive.
Wayne Rooney Overtaken as Another Harry Kane Record Secured
Tepid First Half Sees Harry Kane Miss and Cristian Romero Deflect Home
Where Tottenham’s last game on Saturday 12th March was fast and frenetic with errors from both teams, the start at the AMEX was anything but, although Kane should have given Spurs a very early lead. The angle was tight but Kane has scored from tighter angles in recent matches against Leeds United and Everton and was expected to do better.
Brighton crowded men around Kane, and Yves Bissouma, in particular, was frustrating the England man with his strength. The home side offered very little in attack and although Spurs had the ball in some good areas, they were wasteful. Against Manchester United, Son Heung-min had slipped too often and it seemed he had brought the same boots to a soggy south coast. The one time he did keep his feet, his pass was poor but deflected into the path of Dejan Kulusevski who fired home to give Spurs the lead. Closer inspection revealed that the shot had actually deflected in off Romero’s shin but no matter for Spurs as they got the lead they needed.
Kulusevski then found himself clean through with just the keeper to beat and should have made it two but his effort was tame. Tottenham have created chances in recent games but in the final third have been guilty of missfiring and they needed to change that in the second half if they were to stay in the hunt for Champions League football.
Record Breaker Kane
Kane may have wasted his first half opportunity but he wasn’t going to offer up his second ten minutes into the second half. Brighton had started the half brightly but it was a classic Spurs counter attack that helped Kane break another goalscoring record. Rodrigo Bentancur broke up play and played a superb ball through to Kane who took it in his stride and hit a left foot shot into the back of the net. This was Kane’s 95th goal in 139 away games in the Premier League making him the all time scorer in away games in the competition. He overtakes Wayne Rooney and incredibly has done so playing 104 games fewer than the former Everton and Manchester United striker.
Top Four Not Gone Yet as Brighton Woes Continue
Graham Potter was linked with the Spurs job before Nuno Espírito Santo eventually took over in the summer but he is now starting to feel the pressure at Brighton following a sixth straight defeat. A lack of goals and points has seen them slip down the league and despite being safe from relegation the crowd are continuing to show their displeasure at results and performances.
For Conte and Spurs, they continue the current run of win, lose, win, lose, win and will need to break that run on Sunday March 20th in a huge game in the top four race when they take on West Ham United at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.
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