Tottenham analysis: Spurs show their resilience again as long shots pay dividends in Brighton win

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Dan Kilpatrick @Dan_KP23 April 2019

Tottenham maintained their 100 percent record without conceding at their new stadium and gave themselves a much-needed cushion in the battle for the top four with a late 1-0 win over Brighton, which came courtesy of Christian Eriksen's 88th-minute strike.

The result leaves Spurs third with a four-point buffer to Arsenal - who have a game in hand - in fifth. They are three ahead of fourth-place Chelsea with just three matches left to play this term.

Dan Kilpatrick was in attendance on Tuesday evening to assess the key talking points from the hosts' perspective...

Spurs show their resilience again

How many times have Tottenham won this type of game with late, late goals? For 88 minutes, Spurs were on course for a deeply frustrating draw that suggested a worrying shortage of ideas and steam ahead of the final push for a Champions League place.

The hosts dominated possession, finishing with over 75%, but they could not find a way past stubborn Brighton, who frequently had all 11 men behind the ball and looked to slow down the game at every opportunity with fouls and time-wasting.

For all their chances, Spurs quickly ran out of ideas in the second half but they showed their remarkable resilience with another late goal to leave them in the driving seat for a fourth consecutive season of Champions League football.

Long shots pay dividends

It was a measure of Tottenham's growing frustration that they increasingly resorted to shots from range against the clogging visitors. Time and again Jan Vertonghen, Eriksen and co fired over the bar from outside the box and it was not until Danny Rose tested Mat Ryan with a rasping drive on the hour that they came close to scoring one.

But there is no-one more effective at scoring from outside the area than Eriksen and the tactic finally paid off when the Dane fired into the bottom corner left-footed. The goal was a vindication (of sorts) of Spurs' willingness to shoot on sight, but they should probably aim for some higher percentage efforts in future.

An effective tactic? Christian Eriksen ensured that Tottenham's shoot-on-sight policy was vindicated 
REUTERS

Man City hero Llorente ineffective

Doubting Champions League saviour Fernando Llorente is a risky business but the Spaniard's deployment as a lone centre-forward was the wrong approach, particularly as it forced in-form forwards Heung-min Son and Lucas Moura wide. Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy are nothing if not strong in the air and Spurs' attempts to play to the Spaniard's strengths by crossing got them precisely nowhere.

It is not easy playing against such a defensive side, but Son or Lucas through the middle would have given Brighton's centre-backs something to really worry about. As it was, Llorente was abject and it was only for a lack of options on the bench that he played the full 90.

Janssen returns

Easter may be over but there was a resurrection of sorts in N17, as Vincent Janssen made his first Tottenham appearance since August 2017 – in their first league game at Wembley – as a late substitute. The Dutchman started the season without a squad number and on the transfer list, so it was a measure of just how short Pochettino is of bodies that he was given a chance on Tuesday night.

Vincent Janssen made his first Tottenham appearance for 20 months from the bench
(Credit too long, see caption)

While the stadium briefly sang his name, it is hard to imagine this was the start of a glorious comeback for the Netherlands international, who was long since deemed not good enough by his manager.

Fiery Rose at his best

You rarely see standing ovations for a tackle but that's exactly what Rose got from sections of the crowd after sprinting back to deny Florin Andone on a counter-attack. The challenge was part of a display full of purpose and aggression by the England full-back, who relished the endless opportunities to bomb forward.

Rose's crossing was a little erratic but he came closest to breaking the deadlock, testing Ryan with a rasping right-footed drive. After so many setbacks on and off the pitch, Rose has firmly nailed down the left-back spot ahead of Ben Davies and does not look far from his best.

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