Tottenham Hotspur 1 Brighton and Hove Albion 4
Brighton and Hove Albion came from behind to record a convincing win over Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the final match of the Premier League season.
While the three points mean that Brighton finish in eighth place, a win for Chelsea at Nottingham Forest ended the prospect of a return to European football for the Seagulls.
Dominic Solanke put the Europa League winners ahead after 17 minutes, continuing the feel-good factor after the 1-0 win over Manchester United in Bilbao on Wednesday (21 May) ended a 17-year wait for silverware.
With uncertainty over the future of Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou, the Australian would have been eager to end a horrid domestic campaign with one final victory.
But after Brighton went in behind at half-time, Jack Hinshelwood struck twice in quick succession after the break to put the visitors back in the game.
Matt O’Riley scored a late third goal from the spot before Diego Gomez struck a superb fourth in stoppage time to ensure that Brighton stayed eighth in the table.
The defeat for Spurs this afternoon (Sunday 25 May) meant that they finished 17th – their lowest final placing in the Premier League era.
Despite their disappointing league season, as the full-time whistle was blown the home supporters were waving flags and singing for the team after their European triumph.
Postecoglou started eight players from Wednesday, including goalscoring hero Brennan Johnson, who had been the last to leave the stage during a euphoric open-top bus parade on Friday night.
A sea of blue and white flags greeted Spurs on to the pitch before a predictably sluggish start followed. Simon Adingra dragged an early shot wide and Mats Wieffer then sent an effort over.
It took just four minutes for the home fans to start serenading Postecoglou and, with quarter of an hour played, Spurs were awarded a spot-kick.
Mathys Tel was caught in the penalty area by Wieffer. Solanke stepped up to lift the ball into the roof of the net to make it 1-0 after 17 minutes.
Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, captain in the absence of Son Heung-min, kept out a Hinshelwood header at the near post in the 30th minute before the hosts should have added a second goal.
A lightning counter-attack allowed Pedro Porro to play in Tel but his low left-footed shot was saved by Bart Verbruggen seven minutes before half-time.
Changes were made by both head coaches at the break, with Kaoru Mitoma introduced for the Seagulls and it immediately paid off.
Mitoma forced a corner and Brajan Gruda’s delivery ricocheted to Hinshelwood who steered the ball past Vicario from close range in the 51st minute.
It sparked a frantic period, with Brighton substitute Gomez denied by Vicario before at the other end Tel raced past Wieffer to set up Johnson. But he side-footed wide.
The visitors continued to press and, after Vicario tipped over a fierce Yankuba Minteh strike, Carlos Baleba had a low effort deflected on to the post from another corner.
Postecoglou sensed the dip in energy but, before a triple substitution could be made, Hinshelwood made it 2-1 after 64 minutes.
Tottenham failed to deal with another Gruda corner and Hinshelwood pounced quickly to back-heel past Vicario.
Ben Davies, Richarlison and Yves Bissouma were sent on with 25 minutes left but the Seagulls made sure of the points the former Albion midfielder brought down Gomez. O’Riley fired past Vicario from the penalty spot.
Gomez concluded the scoring with a sumptuous 25-yard strike in stoppage time but Spurs fans rallied around the squad with flags being waved to celebrate their first European title in 41 years.
Albion fans, meanwhile, applauded late sub James Milner, 39, as he made his first appearance since suffering a hamstring injury last summer.
Albion boss Fabian Hürzeler was pleased with his side’s performance and said that he sent Milner on by way of a thank you.
Hürzeler has praised the veteran former Manchester City and Liverpool midfielder a number of times and, although his contract is about to expire, he could yet stay at the club.
The head coach also said that Brighton’s players had shown great character during the season but he added that they need to improve their consistency. A goal for next season.
