Last gasp strike from Johnson sees Spurs eventually see off Brighton

Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Sarr 61, Johnson 90+6)

Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Gross 17 pen)

Att: 61,445

Brennan Johnson’s goal six minutes into stoppage time saw Spurs come from behind to beat Brighton 2-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this afternoon.

Johnson tapped home from six yards to send the stadium wild - and Spurs back into the top four.

Cristian Gross gave the Seagulls the lead from the penalty spot after 17 minutes, but Pape Matar Saar equalised for Tottenham midway through the second half, before Johnson's late show.

The result means Spurs move above Aston Villa in the race for a Champions League spot - with Villa, who are fourth, facing Manchester United tomorrow.

Former Arsenal and Manchester United man Danny Welbeck almost gave the visitors the perfect start inside the first minute.

He nicked the ball off Micky van de Ven, then was allowed a free run down the Spurs left. 

Looking up, he saw nothing on, so cut inside his defender and drew a fine save from Guglielmo Vicario as he looked to curl the ball into the top left corner of the goal.

And Brighton had the lead after 18 minutes. Welbeck had been causing problems early on, and it was Welbeck’s Cruyff turn which caught van de Ven by surprise, the latter tripping Welbeck. 

Pascal Gross calmly slipped his penalty kick to Vicario’s right, as the goalkeeper dived to his left.

Minutes later Richarlison was denied by Jason Steele in the Brighton goal when he really should have scored. The Brazilian was played through brilliantly by James Maddison, but Steele was off his line quickly, spreading himself Schmeichel-like to block the shot.

Spurs continued to attack - the impressive Maddison curling an effort just wide of Steele’s left-hand post from just outside the area.

It was real end-to-end stuff by now. Vicario was starring for Spurs - and keeping them at 0-1. 

Brighton worked the ball well to Kaoru Mitoma in the left channel. Mitoma set himself and tried a curler with the outside of his left foot which was well saved by Vicario. 

Back came Spurs, Dejan Kulusevski was slipped in by Richarlison and this time Steele made a brilliant save low to his right as Kulusevski dug a shot out as he was falling under pressure from his defender.

Then Richarlison was then denied. His shot was brilliantly blocked by Jan Paul van Hecke as the striker pulled the trigger.

Spurs continued to push in the second half. Timo Werner’s run ended with a shot which was deflected wide.

But they were deservedly level on the hour. Sarr’s cross from the right was deflected on to the post by Lewis Dunk and, when it made its way back to Sarr, he was left with a relatively simple task of tapping into an empty net.

Brighton had a glorious chance to go back into the lead on 76 minutes. Mitoma’s cross from the left was helped on by Ansu Fati, but his scuffed shot was wide. 

Seconds later Billy Gilmour’s shot was deflected wide - arguably an even better chance than Fati’s as Brighton looked the likelier winner at that stage.

But Johnson tapped in Son Heung-Min’s centre deep into added time for the Spurs win.

Team: Spurs: Vicario, Richarlison, Maddison, Werner (Johnson 62), Romero, Kulusevski (Bissouma 62), Porro, Sarr (Davies 80), Bentancur (Son 62), van de Ven, Udogie (Hojbjerg 80)

Brighton: Steele, Lamptey (Baleba 90+1), Dunk, Gilmour (Baker-Boaitey 90+1), Gros, Lallana (Fati 57), Welbeck (Veltman 83), Mitoma, Hecke, Estupinan, Buonanotte (Ferguson 83)

Referee: Sam Borrott

Picture: Charlie Stong