London: A well-contested match came to an end with tempers boiling over but Tottenham were relieved to claim all three points with a 2-1 win which keeps them in the running for a top-four finish. Managers of both sides were shown the red card after a 20-man touchline melee brought on by several disputed decisions.
Brighton manager, Roberto de Zerbi said: “I don’t like it when people don’t respect me. Stellini (Christian Stellini, the Spurs manager) did not. It was a personal situation. I told him what was my idea. I did not use bad words. It was only my opinion, I respect everyone.
“I never said anything to the referee. I don’t like it when the other bench puts pressure on the referee. I didn’t deserve the red card but I have to accept the decision. I don’t know if I will be on the bench for the semifinal (of FA Cup against Manchester United, as a result of the red card).”
He added: “We should be proud for the performance. We played a great game. We deserved to win. We are disappointed for the result, not for the quality of play.”
Brighton could consider themselves unlucky not to even get a draw as they were more fluent. They could have taken the lead as early as the fifth minute following a corner but Kaoru Mitoma’s volley was cleared away in a scramble.
Five minutes later, Spurs went into the lead. Brighton were unable to clear a corner and Ivan Perisic passed to Heung-Min Son, who set himself up for a marvellous right-footed curling shot from 25 yards into the top far corner. With that the South Korean reached the milestone of 100 Premier League goals.
Following that came the first disallowed goal in the 18th minute. Mitoma appeared to chest the ball down before lashing a shot into the net but the referee decided the ball had come off the player’s upper arm. However, the visitors were soon on level terms when, in the 34th minute, Lewis Dunk found himself unmarked for a comfortable header inside the far post from a corner.
Ten minutes after the break, Danny Welbeck thought he had given Brighton the lead but VAR ruled that his shot was deflected off Alexis MacAllister’s arm. Soon after that words were exchanged between De Zerbi and the Tottenham bench and a huge row and melee took place between the two benches at the touchline.
Then in the 71st minute, Brighton’s appeal for a penalty was turned down when Mitoma was brought down in the box by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Finally, Tottenham’s winning goal came with 11 minutes of normal time remaining. Hojbjerg, on the right, found Harry Kane with a fine pass and the Spurs striker fired in a right-footed shot to end a controversial match.
Stellini said: “The red card came because I have to manage the bench and keep them calm but I was focused on the players. I give respect to every coach in the Premier League but we deserved to win.”
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