Following Tottenham’s miserable humiliations at the hands of Bayern Munich, the club has once again conceded a damaging defeat at Brighton.
Hugo Lloris gifted Neal Maupay a bizarre opener despite the coach expecting a response from his players after their 7-2 drubbing in midweek.
The Spurs goalkeeper suffered a freak arm injury in the first half and Aaron Connolly compounded Tottenham’s problems by doubling Brighton’s lead on his first Premier League start.
Although Spurs had a positive start to the second half, Connolly killed off any hope of them launching a fightback as the 19-year-old Irish striker produced a well-taken strike for his second goal to seal Brighton’s first home win since March.
Tottenham has now failed to win in their last away 10 games in the Premier League, stretching back to a 2-1 victory at Fulham on 20 January.
The club has as well lost 17 on all competitions in 2019 more than any other top-flight side.
Tottenham in critical moments?
Having conceded 10 goals in five days, Tottenham is now bordering on a crisis.
The manager, Pochettino has become one of the most coveted managers in Europe during his first five years in charge.
His side has gradually improved each year reaching last season’s Champions League final.
Yet, just four months on, Spurs were jeered off at their palatial new home after the defeat at Bayern.
Pochettino is facing the most searching questions of his Tottenham tenure, admitting that “sometimes critics can make you realize you need to wake up.”
“And if that second-half capitulation against Bayern wouldn’t act as a wake-up call, then what would?”
On Friday, Pochettino said he does not doubt the commitment of his players, particularly those in the final year of their contracts such as Christian Eriksen, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen.
The latter pair retained their places despite shortcomings being ruthlessly exposed in midweek.
“We haven’t got the results we could have”
Brighton’s boss, Graham Potter said, “Overall, I was happy with the performance. Great personality on the pitch, we attacked and defended well.”
“When we made mistakes, we recovered. We created chances and played on the front foot as much as we could. “
“I am delighted for the players; we have worked hard and haven’t got the results we could have got. But this is life in the Premier League. The margins are small.”
Mauricio Pochettino
“It was difficult to assess the team. In the first few moments, we conceded and then lost our goalkeeper.”
“It was very negative for the team; the emotion was massive. We did not play well. We are disappointed with that. Brighton played well.”
“We cannot say that they did not deserve the three points. We never recovered from those openings. Neither could we change the dynamic of the game.”