Dele Alli caps Spurs’ comeback win over Brighton
England midfielder grabs winner after equaliser from Kane, whose first-half effort was ruled out by VAR
Dele Alli got Tottenham back on track as the England midfielder capped a gritty escape act with the late winner in yesterday's 2-1 victory against Brighton.
Jose Mourinho's side were in danger of a second successive English Premier League defeat when Adam Webster headed Brighton into a shock lead at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
But Harry Kane equalised after the interval and Alli finished off a flowing Tottenham move in the closing stages to erase the bitter taste of last weekend's acrimonious London derby loss to Chelsea.
| TOTTENHAM | BRIGHTON |
| 2 | 1 |
| (Harry Kane 53, Dele Alli 72) |
(Adam Webster 37) |
"I'm very happy with second half. I'm not saying players were wrong but we changed bits and that makes a difference," Mourinho said.
Avenging their defeat at Brighton in October, Tottenham, unbeaten in Boxing Day fixtures since 2003, have won three of their last four league games as they try to climb into the top four.
Saluting Alli's crucial contribution, Mourinho said: "Another goal and another incredible performance and effort. The work rate was absolutely incredible from Dele.
"The little details are more important than what people look at. His attitude and fighting spirit was so good."
That Chelsea setback was completely overshadowed by the alleged racist abuse of Blues defender Antonio Ruediger by Tottenham fans after his role in Son Heung Min's red card.
Amid widespread calls for stronger action to stamp out racism in football, Spurs fans appeared to behave better this time.
Since Mourinho's first game in charge of Tottenham, no EPL team had conceded more goals than the 14 his side allowed across all competitions heading into this round of matches.
Those defensive frailties were on display when Steven Alzate lost his marker and forced Paulo Gazzaniga into a sprawling save, while Aaron Mooy went close.
Kane has a knack of scoring on Boxing Day and the Tottenham striker thought he had netted again when he fired home from Harry Winks' pass.
However, the goal went to a VAR review and was ruled out by the narrowest of offside decisions.
Brighton made the most of that let-off to take the lead in the 37th minute.
Pascal Gross swung over a free-kick and Webster rose above Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez to head powerfully past Gazzaniga for his third goal of the season.
Mourinho, standing rain-soaked on the touchline, revealed before the game that his Christmas was ruined by the death of his family's pet Yorkshire Terrier.
But Kane put a smile back on his manager's face in the 53rd minute when he seized on a deflection off Lucas Moura after the Brazilian's determined run.
Drilling a shot that Mat Ryan could only push back out, Kane gobbled up the rebound for his eighth goal in five EPL games on Boxing Day.
Christian Eriksen, who came on for Winks in the 68th minute, made an impact four minutes later when he floated a delicate pass to Serge Aurier.
The right-back flicked the ball into the path of Alli, who guided a superb lofted finish over Ryan. - AFP
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