Brighton 3-2 Tottenham: Danny Welbeck completes second-half comeback for the Seagulls – after Spurs surrendered a two-goal lead at the Amex

End of the pier football, we might call it. Breathless and frenzied. Littered with errors. Blurring the senses and delivering a thrilling entertainment by the seaside.

Tottenham, two up and cruising at the interval through Brennan Johnson and James Maddison. Slick and aggressive, they might easily have been further ahead.

Brighton fought back and made their visitors look amateurish at the back. Goals by Yankuba Minteh and Georginio Rutter levelled and Danny Welbeck headed in the winner.

Tottenham’s five wins in a row grind to an abrupt halt in alarming fashion and Fabian Hurzeler’s team hopped above the visitors into sixth.

Tottenham took off with great intent and might have scored within seconds. Timo Werner, starting on the left in the continued absence of injured captain Heung-min Son, sped clear but his attempt to find Johnson with a simple cross went astray.

The former England international capped off a three-goal flurry to secure all three points

The result Fabian Hurzeler’s side leapfrog Spurs to move to sixth in the Premier League table

Werner caused problems for Joel Veltmann in the opening phases, jinking past him at will. Had the German been playing with Johnson’s confidence in front of goal the damage inflicted could easily have been greater at this stage.

On the right flank, Dejan Kulusevski was influential in the first half, combining with full back Pedro Porro and winger Johnson.

Maddison thought he had claimed the opener when he deflected a Werner across the line from close range but there was a flag up and replays confirmed Porro a fraction offside before breaking clear to make the cross.

Spurs did not linger on the setback and were ahead almost immediately through Johnson. They won the ball deep in Brighton’s half, Maddison found Dominic Solanke and his pass was finished coolly, Johnson sweeping it past Bart Verbruggen with his left foot. His sixth in six and the first to do so for Spurs since Harry Kane in January 2019.

Brighton had been standoffish, not helped by losing central defender Adam Webster to a hamstring injury after only eight minutes, but they offered more adventure once behind.

Kaoru Mitoma cut loose and started to threaten in the space behind Porro. Danny Welbeck slid one Mitoma cross wide and Jack Hinshelwood missed the target with another before they helped Tottenham to a second.

It was scored by Maddison, a low curling shot from quick break on the turnover and a short square pass by Werner, but it will go down as a mistake by Verbruggen who ought to have kept it out after getting down with two hands.

Johnson had the chance to make it 3-0 when released against by Kulusevski before the interval. This time, he took a touch and went high with his right foot but was too high.

Postecoglou threw his hands to his head. Perhaps he suspected Brighton would improve. But cannot have anticipated just how quickly the game would turn on its head.

Minteh’s goal three minutes into the second half revived hope inside the Amex Stadium with a poor goal to concede from Tottenham’s angle. A low cross by Mitoma was flicked on by Micky van de Ven as he slid to clear, and the touch deceived Destiny Udgodie as he failed to deal with it at the back post.

Tottenham started brightly at the Amex as Brennan Johnson continued his scoring streak

It appeared to be smooth sailing for Spurs after James Maddison doubled their lead

The visitors entered the interval having barely been troubled throughout the first 45 minutes

But a goal from Yankuba Minteh after the restart gave Brighton a faint hope of a comeback

Georgino Rutter added his second goal of the season to put the hosts back on level terms

Brighton continued to push forward and Welbeck was on hand to score the winner

Defeat marks the end of a five-game winning streak for Ange Postecoglou’s side in all competitions

Minteh pounced to slam it past Guglielmo Vicario and, 10 minutes later, the teams were all square. Again, Van de Ven and Udogie were culpable as they allowed Rutter to hold them off as he collected a pass from Mitoma and found the net with his left foot.

Postecoglou’s team did not stop trying to forward but suddenly they found it difficult to escape their own half and Brighton seemed capable of scoring at will.

Rutter created Brighton’s third. He rolled clear of Udogie a little too easily, Rodrigo Bentancur failed to stop the cross and Welbeck dashed away from Cristian Romero and sprang high to score with a header.

Good old Spursy by the sea, as they like to sing around here.