Key stats
- Brighton have lost four points from winning positions in the Premier League this season, only Brentford (five) have lost more
- Tottenham Hotspur have scored in four of their five games; only Liverpool (five) have scored goals in more matches in the Premier League this season
- Richarlison has now scored four goals in 14 appearances in the Premier League against Brighton
Highlights
Analysis
Richarlison put in a battling display as Spurs came from behind to draw with Brighton.
Despite going 2-0 down, Tottenham enjoyed the larger dominant spells throughout the match.
Match report
Spurs boss Thomas Frank shuffled his pack after his side were in midweek action, and one of the players he brought into the starting XI, Destiny Udogie, was in the thick of the action early on.
He found space down the left and squared for Lucas Bergvall, but Jan Paul van Hecke stole ahead of the midfielder to clear the danger.
That intervention looked even more vital on eight minutes when the Seagulls hit the front against the run of play.
Yankuba Minteh beat the offside trap and raced through on goal from Georginio Rutter’s ball, showing tremendous composure to round Guglielmo Vicario and slot home his second goal in as many H2Hs on this ground.
Brighton were unbeaten in all six previous games Minteh had scored in for them, and after Richarlison and Wilson Odobert missed the target, the hosts looked set to continue that streak as they doubled their lead.
Bergvall was caught in possession in his own third, allowing Yasin Ayari to punish him, curling in from long range with the swerve on his shot perplexing Vicario, who really ought to have done better.
The scoreline was harsh on Tottenham, who were the better side for large periods of the first half, and they deservedly reduced the arrears just before HT through Richarlison, who settled Mohammed Kudus’ shot and stabbed home from close range.
Concerted Tottenham pressure following the restart ultimately came to nothing, prompting the introduction of new signing Xavi Simons from the bench.
He was charged with bucking a trend that had seen nine of Spurs’ last 12 matches have the HT result replicated at the final whistle, but that task nearly became much harder when Ayari’s long-range strike whistled just wide of the target.
Having survived that scare, Simons began to work his magic, weaving his way to the edge of the box where he saw a shot well saved by Bart Verbruggen, before he dragged another effort wide of the target.
Spurs’ pressure was relentless at times, and as the game entered the final 10 minutes, they finally got an equaliser.
Having been found by Simons, Kudus’ inviting cross from the right was inadvertently deflected into the bottom corner by Van Hecke, prompting delirium in the away end with plenty of time still to chase a winner.
Unfortunately for the visitors, Brighton composed themselves from there to hang on to a draw, but squandering the lead leaves the Seagulls with just five points from as many games, while Spurs are unbeaten in three away league games under Thomas Frank.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Xavi Simons (Tottenham Hotspur)
Post-match comments
Tottenham boss Thomas Frank to Sky Sports: "I thought we looked extremely strong. I am very happy with the overall performance.
"It was potentially our best performance of the season. We dominated more or less throughout the game and created enough chances. We may have lacked enough to create three or four big chances, but the amount of crosses we were putting in, for me, if there should have been a winner, it should have been us.
"What I loved from the players was the mentality. This group came here last year, went 2-0 up and then lost 3-2, now we are 2-0 down and get 2-2, and we are closer to the three points.
"The physicality from the players was good. We played midweek, and then to go again today just shows that they are fit and they are strong. I know we were 2-0 away from home against a good team that I respect a lot, Fabian Hurzeler I respect a lot. It is a fine point on a day where you go 2-0 down."
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler to Sky Sports: "In the moments that we conceded the goals, the timing was bad.
"I think how we conceded the goals was quite unlucky. Overall I was pleased with the performance. We created chances, had quite a few good transition moments, especially in the second half and we could finish the game earlier. In the end there were a lot of unlucky things.
"We have to be more ruthless sometimes. Be more stable in some moments. But we have to see the positives."