Brighton v Tottenham LIVE: Premier League result and reaction as Spurs comeback falls short

Brighton 4-2 Tottenham: The Seagulls hung on after racing 4-0 ahead in a thrilling post-Christmas cracker

Spurs host Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League but will be without Cristian Romero through injury

Tottenham Hotspur’s top-four ambitions suffered a blow as they lost 4-2 at Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League with only a late rally saving them from their heaviest defeat since Ange Postecoglou became manager.

Victory would have put injury-hit Spurs above Manchester City into fourth spot but they were mauled on the south coast as a Brighton side also missing key players ran riot.

A powerful early strike by Jack Hinshelwood and Joao Pedro’s penalty gave the hosts a deserved 2-0 lead at half-time as Tottenham struggled to deal with Brighton’s intensity. The visitors responded in the second half with Richarlison having a goal disallowed but when half-time substitute Pervis Estupinan sent a thunderbolt past Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario and Pedro netted a second penalty the game seemed over.

However, when Tottenham’s late substitute Alejo Veliz fired home from close range in the 75th minute and Ben Davies scored with a header a miraculous comeback suddenly looked possible. Midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg hit the post for Spurs in stoppage time as Brighton looked nervy but they held on to move into eighth place in the table while Tottenham remain fifth.

Relive all the action below:

Brighton v Tottenham - live updates

• Brighton hold on to beat Tottenham 4-2 in a Premier League thriller
• Seagulls climb to eighth after racing into a 4-0 lead and holding off a late Spurs comeback
• FULL-TIME! Brighton 4-2 Tottenham
• 90+5’ - POST! Hojbjerg’s curled shot strikes the post (BHA 4-2 TOT)
• 86’ - GOAL! Davies heads in a second Spurs goal (BHA 4-2 TOT)
• 81’ - GOAL! Young Spurs striker Veliz scores consolation (BHA 4-1 TOT)
• 75’ - GOAL! Pedro scores second penalty after Ferguson fouled by Lo Celso (BHA 4-0 TOT)
• 63’ - GOAL! Estupinan scores thunderbolt from 25 yards (BHA 3-0 TOT)
• 45’ - POST! Richarlison clips the outside of the woodwork from distance (BHA 2-0 TOT)
• 37’ - NO GOAL! Buonanotte’s neat finish rightly ruled out for offside (BHA 2-0 TOT)
• 32’ - POST! Milner rattles the post with a curling effort (BHA 2-0 TOT)
• 23’ - GOAL! Pedro scores from the penalty spot after Kulusevski’s foul (BHA 2-0 TOT)
• 20’ - POST! Van Hecke’s header cannons off the post (BHA 1-0 TOT)
• 11’ - GOAL! Hinshelwood hammers home a finish after great work by Pedro (BHA 1-0 TOT)

[28 December 2023 20:52 · Luke Baker]

Brighton 2-0 Tottenham

59 mins: Another sub for Brighton as Buonanotte, who has looked lively down the flank, is clapped off with Carlos Baleba coming on. The Cameroon international will probably play more centrally in a holding role.

[28 December 2023 20:51 · Luke Baker]

SAVE! Brighton 2-0 Tottenham

56 mins: Good save from Steele as Spurs start to turn the screw! Udogie sees his first shot blocked and the second is saved by good reflexes from the Brighton stopper.

Richarlison then given a yellow card as he pushes Pedro in the throat out on the right touchline. From the free-kick, Lewis Dunk gets a shot away in the box but it’s scuffed wide

[28 December 2023 20:46 · Luke Baker]

CLOSE! Brighton 2-0 Tottenham

53 mins: Better from Tottenham. Good work by Son and he plays the ball into the feet of Richarlison, who turns and fires a shot at goal but it goes wide. Probably should have been on target.

The flag then goes up for the following move where Richarlison forces a save from the legs of Steele.

[28 December 2023 20:42 · Luke Baker]

Brighton 2-0 Tottenham

49 mins: A succession of corners for Brighton but Spurs do enough to scramble them away and survive - for now. They’ll need to start making inroads at the other end to get back in this game though.

[28 December 2023 20:39 · Luke Baker]

Brighton 2-0 Tottenham

46 mins: Just 35 seconds into the second half and Spurs have the ball in the net after a neat finish from Richarlison but the offside flag immediately goes up to rule it out. Correct decision as the Brazilian was offside.

[28 December 2023 20:37 · Luke Baker]

KICK-OFF! Brighton 2-0 Tottenham

Back underway at the Amex. A half-time sub for Brighton as Igor Julio comes off and Pervis Estupinan comes on at left-back. He’s returning after being out injured for a couple of months and that’s big for the Seagulls.

[28 December 2023 20:32 · Luke Baker]

HALF-TIME! Brighton 2-0 Tottenham

Here are the goals from a breathless first half of football, as well as one of Vicario’s crucial saves.

[28 December 2023 20:22 · Luke Baker]

HALF-TIME! Brighton 2-0 Tottenham

PHEW! What a half of football that was! Brighton lead 2-0 at the break after Jack Hinshelwood’s thumped finish and Joao Pedro’s penalty after Dejan Kulusevski hauled down his man in the box.

I’ve almost lost count of the number of times the post has been hit! Twice for Brighton and once for Spurs, I think. Meanwhile Guglielmo Vicario has made a couple of superb saves for Spurs.

But Tottenham will believe they can still get back into this after Richarlison came so close and the Seagulls do look slightly exposed defensively at times.

(AP)

[28 December 2023 20:19 · Luke Baker]

Brighton 2-0 Tottenham

45+4 mins: Tottenham have had a few corners this half but all well defended by Brighton. Dunk heads away the latest inswinger from Porro to launch a counter-attack.

[28 December 2023 20:18 · Luke Baker]

POST! Brighton 2-0 Tottenham

45+1 mins: Now the woodwork is hit at the other end! Richarlison takes aim from outside the box and his bouncing shot is beyond Steele but clips the outside of the post and goes wide.

That would have brought Spurs right back into it! Five minutes of added time, by the way.