Tottenham Hotspur 1-4 Brighton: Seagulls humble Europa League champions on final day | OneFootball

Brighton & Hove Albion put the Europa League champions Tottenham Hotspur to the sword in a 4-1 victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.

Goals from Jack Hinshelwood, Matt O’Riley and Diego Gómez helped secure Brighton an eighth place finish in the Premier League.

Meanwhile, Spurs concluded their season in 17th place, their lowest Premier League finish. Their previous record was 15th in the 1993/94 season.

As it happened

It was a strong start to the game for the hosts as Mathys Tel was brought down by Mats Wieffer in the area, gifting them a penalty. Dominic Solanke put Spurs ahead after converting from the spot in the 17th minute.

Brighton almost equalised as Hinshelwood forced Guglielmo Vicario into a save following a Brighton corner taken by Yasin Ayari.

The Seagulls were looking threatening towards the end of the first half, but a huge chance for Spurs in the 38th minute almost threw a spanner in the works. Rodrigo Bentancur drove out of his own half and into Brighton territory. Initially, he tried to slot the ball through to Tel past the Brighton defence, but it deflected into the path of Pedro Porro. The Spaniard threaded the ball to Tel on the left wing, but he couldn’t convert past Bart Verbruggen.

Both sides chose to make changes for the second half, as Ange Postecoglou replaced Pape Matar Sarr with Wilson Odobert, while Fabian Hürzeler brought on Gómez for Ayari.

Brighton returned to the field for the second half a completely different team, equalising in the 51st minute, courtesy of Hinshelwood.

The equaliser shocked that Tottenham defence as they seemed to be faltering. Brajan Gruda and Gómez linked up flawlessly, as they carved through a flimsy Tottenham backline. Gómez took a shot at Vicario, who made a save to keep the game level.

In a back-and-forth contest at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Tel burst down the left wing in the 56th minute and guided the ball into the path of Brennan Johnson, who missed his chance to put Postecoglou’s side ahead.

The home side struggled in the second half as Vicario was forced into another save, this time denying Yankuba Minteh. An additional effort from Carlos Baleba from outside the penalty area was deflected by Jan Paul van Hecke onto the post. Brighton should’ve been leading.

Their pressure eventually paid off as Hinshelwood back-heeled The Seagulls into a 2-1 lead in the 64th minute, the goal a product of another set piece from the visitors.

Things then went from bad to worse for the Europa League champions, with Yves Bissouma’s mistimed tackle on Gómez giving Brighton a penalty of their own. Subsequently, O’Riley converted the spot-kick to make it 3-1 to Brighton in the 88th minute.

Injury time could not save Tottenham, as Gómez scored a beautiful goal from outside the box in the 93rd minute, which sailed past Vicario into the top right corner. Brighton had been exceptional.

Despite their terrific performance, the result wasn’t quite enough for qualification to the UEFA Conference League after Chelsea defeated Nottingham Forest.

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