Brighton teenager Aaron Connolly scored twice on his first Premier League start as Tottenham’s nightmare run continued on the south coast with an emphatic 3-0 defeat.
Brighton teenager Aaron Connolly scored twice on his first premier League start as Tottenham’s nightmare run continued on the south coast with an emphatic 3-0 defeat.
It was meant to be Tottenham’s bounce back game after their 7-2 Champions League humiliation against Bayern Munich, but after gifting Brighton the opener after just three minutes they lurched from one disaster to another.
Graham Potter’s side were the better side throughout, first to every ball, winning almost every tackle and producing far more cutting edge than Mauricio Pochettino’s side – who produced another lacklustre showing that will only add to the manager’s frustrations.
It was a nightmare start for Spurs as they fell behind after just three minutes following yet another bad mistake from Lloris, who made a massive mess of what should have been an easy take of a high floated cross under no pressure.
Instead, he had to palm the ball away as he toppled backwards, allowing Maupay to nod home the easiest goal of his career but also injuring himself badly in the process.
Lloris was stretchered off after receiving lengthy treatment to his arm after what looked like a horrific injury suffered as he landed – with his arm collapsing underneath him. Paulo Gazzaniga came on as his replacement.
The teenaged Connolly was lively throughout and he doubled Brighton’s lead just after the half-hour mark when he was quickest to react to the rebound after Gazzaniga had got down smartly to palm away his fine first improvised effort from a cross.
Pochettino’s response was to move to a back three in the second half but, after an improved start, they slipped 3-0 behind as Connolly produced a wonderful solo effort to get the Amex on their feet celebrating their new young hero.
The 19-year-old spun in behind Toby Alderweireld and raced down the left channel from halfway before cutting in on his right foot and firing in a low curler into the far post from the edge of the box in an accomplished finish of someone far beyond his years.
If anything, Brighton could have increased the deficit in the end but it finished 3-0 to start yet another inquest into struggling Spurs and mainly the future of Pochettino after another performance devoid of any passion, pride and endeavour.
Brighton 3-0 Tottenham - Opta stats
- Courtesy of their victory over Tottenham, Brighton ended a run of eight Premier League home games without a win (D3 L5).
- Tottenham have lost 17 games in all competitions in 2019, more than any other top-flight side.
- Brighton equalled their biggest-ever margin of victory in a top-flight game and scored more than once in a Premier League home game for the first time in 16 games, since beating Crystal Palace 3-1 in December 2018.
- Tottenham have conceded 10 goals across their last two games in all competitions for the first time since December 1997 (1-6 loss to Chelsea, 0-4 loss to Coventry).
- At 2 mins 30 secs, Neal Maupay's opener for Brighton was their fastest-ever goal in the Premier League.
- Only Asmir Begovic (21) has made more errors leading to goals than Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris (18) in the Premier League since his debut in the competition in October 2012.
- Subbed off after eight minutes, Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris is the quickest a keeper has been replaced in a Premier League match since the Frenchman himself against Leicester in April 2015 (4 minutes).
- At 19 years 250 days old, Aaron Connolly is the first teenager ever to start a Premier League game for Brighton and the first teen to score in the league for the Seagulls since Jake Forster-Caskey against Charlton back in April 2014 in the Championship.
Brighton 3-0 Tottenham - As it happened
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