Goals from Serge Aurier and Heung-min Son secured Tottenham a 2-0 win over Brighton on Wednesday night as they recorded back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time since October.
Erik Lamela’s first Tottenham start in over a year
It’s been a long time coming. An hour before kick off and it was confirmed that Erik Lamela would make his first start in over a year in Wednesday’s welcome of Brighton. The Argentine hasn’t featured in a Tottenham starting XI since a 0-0 draw with Bournemouth last October following a long-standing hip problem. Having looked bright in a number of cameo appearances against Leicester, Watford and Stoke, the Argentine’s return to the fold has been a welcome one for the north London side.
At times at Wembley this season, Spurs have lacked a creative spark to open teams up, Saturday’s 5-1 win over Stoke aside, and a player of Lamela’s calibre has been required for some time now, particularly against opponents that sit deep and remain compact. Lamela isn’t the quickest of attacking players, but he makes for his lack of speed with his rapid train of thought and while it wasn’t a first start in over a year to remember from the 25-year-old, he showed glimpses of his quality before his withdrawal in the 74th minute.
Lamela created two chances prior to his second half substitution and looked to work openings against this steadfast Brighton side, all the while working hard off the ball to disrupt the visitors’ flow as he made one tackle and committed one foul. Pochettino will be buoyed to have the former Roma man available again and while he didn’t fire on all cylinders on Wednesday night, for Tottenham, it’s a boost to have him fully fit again.
Brighton show enough to suggest they can stave off the drop
Brighton weren’t easy to watch, but they were tough to break down at Wembley. Against Manchester United, it took a Gaetan Bong own goal for Jose Mourinho’s side to take the initiative against the Seagulls earlier in the season, while a stroke of good fortune put Tottenham on their way to three points on Wednesday night. In a team managed by former defender Chris Hughton, you’d expect Brighton to be well drilled at the back and that was very much the case at Wembley.
Teams have made a habit of sitting deep and frustrating Tottenham at Wembley this season and Brighton looked to do just that, with Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy both excelling at the heart of the Seagulls defence even in a 2-0 defeat. Brighton have conceded just the 23 league goals this season, which for a team in their debut Premier League campaign, is a commendable return. Each team relies on good fortune at times to secure three points and, unfortunately for Brighton, luck wasn’t on their side at Tottenham.
Yet, they showed enough in the capital to suggest they boast the defensive resoluteness to secure their top-flight safety this term. The results will come in time and there were plenty of positive signs on Wednesday night that they can take solace from to help consolidate a Premier League spot this season.
Tottenham’s full-back conundrum
Mauricio Pochettino has a selection headache on his hands at full-back, with the Tottenham boss boasting two quality options at both right-back and left-back. To date, he has his partnerships set with Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies or Serge Aurier and Danny Rose alternating between the respective starting berths. For Wednesday’s welcome of Brighton, he unsurprisingly plumped for the latter duo and it worked to good effect, with Aurier the unlikely scorer of Spurs’ opening goal two years to the day since his last league goal.
However, the continuous chopping and changing of players in both positions does little to help develop an understanding with teammates and it’s vital Pochettino settle on a duo for the good of the team. When fully fit and on song, Aurier and Rose are better fits for the north London side, though it’s impossible too completely rule Trippier and Davies out considering their development and consistency since their respective arrivals from Burnley and Swansea.
Rose, though, looks a shadow of his former self since his return from injury, though that’s little shock after such a long spell on the sidelines, while Aurier, as solid as he is, looks to have a mistake in him from time to time, his conceding of a needless penalty in the 1-1 draw with Real Madrid earlier in the season a case in point. That being said, the duo were solid on Wednesday night, which is a boost for Pochettino as he looks to steer Spurs back in the right direction following a downturn in form. Rose chipped in with two key passes from left-back, while Aurier netted the aforementioned opening goal for Spurs. On top of that, they were defensively sound, chipping in with three tackles each, but it’s crucial for Pochettino’s side that he settle on a regular pairing as the campaign wears on.
Ezequiel Scheletto Brighton’s unlikely attacking outlet
It could have been a night to forget for Ezequiel Scheletto. The Argentina-born Italy international started the night poorly having been robbed of possession early on by Heung-min Son, but quickly steadied himself and grew into the game. Indeed, he pressed forward well from right-back to help stretch the Spurs defence when they did look to catch the hosts out, making two key passes from defence.
He also wasn’t overawed by the Tottenham offensive as he made five interceptions from defence to help kick-start attacks from Brighton’s right flank, with a majority of their attacks (44%) come down this side. With an additional two accurate crosses from right-back, Scheletto’s impact from defence was crucial to help give Brighton a fighting chance of a positive result. Chris Hughton has a raft of attacking talent in the likes of Anthony Knockaert and Jose Izquierdo, but it was Schelotto who provided Brighton’s best chance of an upset at Wembley in a display somewhat expected from the summer signing.
