Spurs late to the party after Estupiñán provides the fizz

The strange thing was that Roberto De Zerbi, always such a livewire in his technical area, barely flinched. The Brighton manager had seen Pervis Estupiñán, on as a substitute, sculpt a masterpiece from long range to put his team 3-0 up just after the hour.

- David Hytner

Perhaps, it was simply a reflection of De Zerbi's comfort. Because at that point, it was easy to write that Brighton had been outstanding, Tottenham outclassed. Brighton wanted to find a spark in the Premier League, having saved most of their best stuff this season for their Europa League adventure. How they found it.

Estupiñán had taken a couple of touches to set himself after James Milner's short corner and the shot was angled beautifully into the far top corner, Guglielmo Vicario helpless in the Spurs goal. It was of a piece with the Brighton performance. Jack Hinshelwood and João Pedro (from the penalty spot) had scored their first-half goals and there would be more, another penalty from the excellent Pedro after a foul by one substitute on another - Giovani Lo Celso on Evan Ferguson.

The truly crazy thing was that Brighton were left to hang on a little at the end after they completely stopped playing. Spurs scored one, then another and advertised further damage. They couldn't, could they?

The thought certainly flickered through the minds of the Brighton support when Pierre Emile-Højbjerg hit the post in the fifth of nine additional minutes and Pedro Porro's follow-up was deflected narrowly wide by Estupiñán. De Zerbi was animated now, all right.