Brennan Johnson's injury-time goal pushes Tottenham past Brighton | first division

This was the kind of first division A game you could happily watch all weekend: two teams that stick to their coaches' ultra-offensive principles and are never afraid to take risks.

In the end, a dramatic winning goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time from Spurs substitute Brennan Johnson, thanks to the return of Son Heung-min, broke Brighton's hearts in the cruelest of ways moments after they were centimeters away from snatching the points.

It was a harsh lesson for Roberto De Zerbi's assistant Andrea Maldera, son of a former Milan defender, who saw his team take the lead following a Pascal Gross penalty, only for the impressive Pape Matar Sarr to equalize with his third goal championship league. season upon his return from the African Cup of Nations.

But for Ange Postecoglou, this was another famous comeback victory that put Tottenham back in the top four and underlined the fighting qualities that have helped them pick up eight points with goals scored in second-half added time.

“Historically, all of my teams have done that because the clock shouldn't dictate the way you play,” Postecoglou said. “You always have to look for goals, even if you lose 1-0 or win 1-0. “I think it helps you in games like this when you’re chasing the game.”

Maldera had said De Zerbi was “not happy” about missing the match after undergoing what Brighton described as “very invasive” dental surgery in Italy this week. With a 1-0 lead but under siege from Tottenham 15 minutes into the second half, the Brighton assistant opted to make an attacking change by bringing on striker Ansu Fati for midfielder Adam Lallana rather than sticking with what already had. The result was a narrow defeat, but the visitors can only be given credit for their audacity.

“We knew we would have chances in the second half and that's why we put in an extra striker,” said Maldera, who confirmed he had made the change on De Zerbi's advice after speaking to him at half-time. “We always want to score the second goal, we don't think about staying in our own field.”

In the previous meeting between these two teams, six weeks ago, Brighton race to a 4-0 lead And here again they were the fastest out of the blocks. Micky van de Ven had possession inside the first 30 seconds and it took a full save from Guglielmo Vicario to deflect Danny Welbeck's shot. It was another mistake from the Dutchman after a misplaced pass from Destiny Udogie gave Gross the opportunity to score from the penalty spot, which he gratefully accepted.

Falling behind was the impetus for Tottenham to finally wake up and a sumptuous pass with the outside of his boot from James Maddison almost equalized but Jason Steele was equal to his shot.

The England midfielder then took aim himself after Brighton lost the ball in a dangerous area and was just inches from the far post. Although Postecoglou's team is exciting in attack, a defensive failure is never far from this Tottenham team and Rodrigo Bentancur was the next to do the favor when he was dispossessed on the edge of his own area and Vicario came to his rescue to deny Kaoru Mitoma. his return from the Asian Cup.

Richarlison looked wonderfully confident in his central role and the Brazilian set up Dejan Kulusevski for a chance which Steele quickly smothered. But he was guilty of delaying a pass to Maddison when Spurs found the net just before half-time.

Postecoglou was in a similar situation at half-time v brentford late last month before his team came out and scored three goals in eight minutes to seal the victory. But even though Maddison tested Steele with a free-kick early on, Brighton were not as accommodating.

Maldera decided to gamble with Fati, but it backfired almost immediately when Sarr burst into the box and saw his initial cross miss Lewis Dunk's post, only for the Senegalese midfielder to bury the rebound from a tight angle. That was the moment for Son to make his long-awaited return as Postecoglou took the opportunity to roll the dice with a triple substitution.

But their best chance appeared to have disappeared when Johnson could only direct his shot straight at Steele as Brighton weathered the storm after the equaliser. They had chances to take all three points when Welbeck shot wide before substitute Benicio Baker-Boaitey saw his shot go over a post as Postecoglou looked on impassively.

The decisive moment came 30 seconds later when Johnson tapped in a Son cross at the far post to raise the roof and leave Brighton cursing their luck.