Tottenham 0-1 Brighton: Player ratings as late Trossard goal stuns woeful Spurs

Leandro Trossard struck late for Brighton
Leandro Trossard struck late for Brighton / Clive Rose/GettyImages
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Tottenham failed to muster up a single shot on target as they fell to a 1-0 defeat to Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday.

Brighton came out the gates well and pressed Spurs high, stopping the hosts from getting anything going in the early stages. They did start to get some control after the 15-minute mark, with some nice runs and corners coming to nothing.

The first real chance fell Brighton's way. Enock Mwepu, who put Arsenal to the sword last week, had a fizzing volley from the edge of the box well blocked by Ben Davies, before Joel Veltman saw his own effort sent back by Harry Kane from the following corner.

Brighton will have been by far the happier team at the break. They didn't really come close to scoring but they stopped Spurs from having a single shot on target in the first 45.

Son was Spurs' dangerman after the break. Whenever they picked up the energy, the ball would usually end up with the winger, who saw two efforts well blocked after the break. However, as the clocked ticked over to 70 minutes, Spurs were still without a shot on target.

The closest they came to finding the back of the net came from Sergio Reguilon, who was just an inch too short as he lunged to connect with a cross from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

Brighton continued to pose the biggest threat. Lewis Dunk's late header forced a decent save out of Hugo Lloris, who was the busier goalkeeper without ever really looking in too much danger. Leandro Trossard also fired wide from range.

Finally, with just seconds to go, Trossard provided the first real moment of quality as the Belgian waltzed his way into the box and fired past Lloris to blow the top-four race open even wider.

Spurs went from the 58th minute to the 90th without having a single effort on goal, let alone one on target. Antonio Conte can have no complaints with this result.


Tottenham vs Brighton player ratings

1. Tottenham (3-4-3)

Harry Kane
Kane couldn't get into the game / Clive Rose/GettyImages

GK: Hugo Lloris - 6/10 - Maybe a little shaky in his passing but nothing to really complain about. Couldn't do much with the goal.

RCB: Cristian Romero - 5/10 - Not nearly adventurous enough with his passing. Looked off it.

CB: Eric Dier - 5/10 - Similar to Romero, but his attempted forward passes usually missed their targets.

LCB: Ben Davies - 5/10 - Combined an unreal first touch with a terrifyingly poor pass in the first half, which summed up Spurs' defence today.

RM: Emerson Royal - 5/10 - One of the few Spurs players who looked like they wanted to move forwards. A lot of energy without much end product. Loves a stepover.

CM: Rodrigo Bentancur - 4/10 - Couldn't control the tempo of the game and the gap between him and the forwards was massive.

CM: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg - 4/10 - Played a little too deep and couldn't offer that link up top either.

LM: Sergio Reguilon - 5/10 - Looked hesitant to get forwards. Didn't offer an option enough.

RW: Dejan Kulusevski - 2/10 - Fortunate to stay on the pitch after swinging an elbow at Cucurella in the first half. The Spaniard was too quick for him and he was clearly getting wound up.

CF: Harry Kane - 3/10 - Followed Conte's orders and stayed up top, and it didn't work. No outfield player had fewer touches than him.

LW: Son Heung-min - 5/10 - The liveliest of Spurs' front three. Looked as likely as anyone to create a goal without ever really threatening to do so.

SUB: Lucas Moura (64' for Kulusevski) - 5/10 - Offered more energy than the Swede but the end product was similar.

SUB: Harry Winks (72' for Bentancur) - 5/10 - Involved in a chance pretty soon after coming up but that was about it.

SUB: Steven Bergwijn (87' for Son) - N/A


2. Brighton (3-5-1-1)

Dejan Kulusevski, Marc Cucurella
Cucurella had Kulusevski's number / TOLGA AKMEN/GettyImages

GK: Robert Sanchez - 6/10 - Pretty much just a spectator.

RCB: Joel Veltman - 7/10 - Did a great job of keeping control of Son, although a little too physical at times. Really put his body about.

CB: Lewis Dunk - 6/10 - Wasn't stretched too hard by Kane & Co but did everything he needed to do.

LCB: Marc Cucurella - 8/10 - Had Kulusevski's number all afternoon. A great block to stop Kane from getting a dangerous shot off.

RM: Tariq Lamptey - 7/10 - Used his pace well to stop Son from getting much going. More impactful in defence than in attack.

CM: Yves Bissouma - 7/10 - Nothing too spectacular but his energy seemed to be too much for Spurs.

CM: Moises Caicedo - 7/10 - Played with immense energy and hounded Bentancur all afternoon. Not always impressive on the ball but some really encouraging signs.

CM: Pascal Gross - 7/10 - Brighton's creative force for the majority of the game. Some really nice passing.

LM: Leandro Trossard - 7/10 - Seemed a little wasted as a wing-back but did his job well at both ends of the field. Got forward properly once and took his goal well.

AM: Enock Mwepu - 4/10 - Could have been shown about four yellow cards in the first half an d had to be hooked at half time before the red eventually came.

CF: Alexis Mac Allister - 5/10 - Can't fault his effort but the quality wasn't there. Some woeful shooting from range and was clearly trying to feed off scraps.

SUB: Danny Welbeck (46' for Mwepu) - 5/10 - Sliced a volley out for a throw-in. Got very lucky for the goal.

SUB: Adam Lallana (77' for Caicedo) - 6/10 - Picked a few nice passes, including for Trossard's winner.

SUB: Solly March (82' for Lamptey) - 6/10 - Matched Lamptey's energy immediately and put in a nice cross.