Thomas Frank hails Tottenham’s fighting spirit as Brighton blow two-goal lead

Familiar failings from Tottenham, proof that a change of management cannot immediately cure previous ills. Though where last season in the Premier League, there was rarely anything other than surrender, there is a fighting spirit within Thomas Frank’s team.

Brighton scored two fine first-half goals, Yankuba Minteh’s solo effort followed by an opportunistic long-range strike from Yasin Ayari, in a 45 minutes where Tottenham dominated possession but left open the back door. Richarlison’s poked goal before half-time set up a second-half comeback completed by Jan Paul van Hecke’s own-goal blunder under heavy Spurs pressure.

In May, Brighton’s 4-1 win at Tottenham, completing a home and away Albion double, proved the final act of Ange Postecoglou’s reign. Under new management, Spurs were supposed to be a different defensive proposition but at the Amex, particularly in that first half, Frank’s team showed the foibles of the previous regime before locating the fresh powers of recovery with which they rescued the match.

“What I loved from the players was the mentality,” said Frank. “This group came here last year, went 2-0 up and then lost 3-2, now we are 2-0 down and got 2-2, and we are closer to the three points.”

Brighton continue to be enigmatic; brilliant one minute, wasteful of opportunities and prone to the type of mishap that brought Tottenham’s equaliser the next. They were much improved from the previous week’s limp defeat at Bournemouth, benefiting from Fabian Hürzeler’s sweeping changes. “It doesn’t feel great, but there’s a lot of positives,” Hürzeler said. “I could see small steps in the right direction.”

For Frank, after midweek’s defeat of Villarreal, rotating his squad to meet European commitments is a fresh challenge for someone whose previous continental assignments were Europa League qualifiers a decade ago at Brøndby. “The players looked strong, intense,” said Frank. “The physical aspect was key.”

The attacking quality of Destiny Udogie – “exceptional … unstoppable” in Frank’s words – making his first start of the season, might have produced an early Tottenham penalty. Ayari lunged in but managed to pull back. Within seconds, Brighton scored from their first attack. The goal was almost wholly Minteh’s work in winning possession before racing to the return from Georginio Rutter. Brighton have often found goals hard to come by but Minteh coolly rounded Guglielmo Vicario. For Tottenham, heavy shades of the infamously malfunctioning Postecoglou high line.

Richarlison, a considerable physical specimen himself, was outmuscled by Minteh, beginning a move that finished with Ayari forcing a save. It proved a dry run. After Lucas Bergvall, his Swedish international teammate, had clumsily coughed up possession, Ayari’s dipping shot caught out Vicario.

“We suffered two goals against the run of play, but that’s football,” said João Palhinha, the heart of a fierce midfield contest that Tottenham had edged. “There are a lot of things for this team to keep improving but these improvements have come week by week.”

Brighton defenders protested against Richarlison’s goal. It was decidedly scrappy but there was zero evidence of infringement; Lewis Dunk flailing on the line meant no offside. Thus, the stage was set for a second-half Tottenham revival, a chance to show they are no longer the soft touch of lore. Brighton had meanwhile lost the tired Carlos Baleba. That allowed Spurs a firmer grip of midfield. “He’s not a machine,” said Hürzeler of Baleba. “He only had 45 minutes in his body.”

Xavi Simons was soon thrown on to add an X-factor, Rodrigo Bentancur having struggled for impact in the midfield scheming role. Simons’ first shot fizzed wide, and he next forced a fine low save from Bart Verbruggen. When Bergvall dummied a Mohammed Kudus cross, the Dutchman fired wide with his best chance.

Spurs’ back door meanwhile remained open, only Udogie’s speed curbing a couple of Minteh breakaways. Some hurried Brighton finishes, one in particular from Diego Gómez, Baleba’s replacement, protected Vicario’s modesty.

Eventually, after Tottenham seized back momentum, Brighton conceded the type of goal that has pockmarked their season so far. From Kudus’s cross, Van Hecke could only divert the ball beyond Verbruggen. “It is a fine point on a day where you go 2-0 down,” said Frank, his sunniness the antithesis of his predecessor. His new Tottenham continue to give off positive vibes.

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