Tottenham beat Brighton 2-1 in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon with a last-gasp turnaround.
Ange Postecoglou made two changes to the Tottenham team that drew at Everton: Pape Matar Sarr and Dejan Kulusevski replaced Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Brennan Johnson. Captain Son Heung-min and Yves Bissouma returned from the Asian Cup and the African Cup of Nations respectively and took their place on the bench.
Brighton, who were without suspended boss Robert De Zerbi, opened the scoring with a goal in the first half. Rodrigo Bentancur lost the ball on the edge of the Spurs box and Micky van de Ven caught Danny Welbeck’s foot in the box. Pascal Gross got to his feet and sent Guglielmo Vicario the wrong way from the penalty spot.
Spurs pushed for the equaliser and it happened on the hour mark. Sarr was excellent in the second half and it was the Senegalese midfielder who deservedly scored his second goal in two appearances for Tottenham. Dejan Kulusevski outmuscled him and tried to get the ball to Richarlison, but Lewis Dunk deflected it to the right and Sarr hit a fine follow-up shot from a tight angle.
Tottenham, though stalling, won the game in the sixth minute of stoppage time when Son broke down the left, crossed the ball to Brennan Johnson, whose header crashed off the post and sent the Tottenham Hotspur stadium into delirium.
Daniel Levy confirmed that Tottenham have a buy-back clause in Harry Kane’s contract with Bayern Munich. The chairman was asked on Tuesday night at a Spurs fans’ forum whether the clause exists. “Of course,” he replied. Levy did not give any further details.
Kane moved to Bayern in August for an initial fee of £100m, and Spurs said in a statement that he was “always welcome back … he is a much-loved and valued member of the Spurs family, forever in our history”.
The 30-year-old is focused on his new life at Bayern, where he is under contract until 2027, and it’s impossible to say how he would feel if he were to one day return and play for Spurs.
When his transfer to Bayern was almost a done deal, he was told not to go to Spurs training sessions, which means he won’t be able to say goodbye face-to-face or pick up his belongings in person. His family could not access their box at the stadium.
Spurs have started the season well, with 14 wins, 5 draws and 5 defeats in 24 Premier League games, and Kane had this to say about his beloved team.
“They’ve started fantastically,” he said. “I always follow them and I will follow Tottenham for the rest of my life. I’m really happy to see the team playing the way they are playing and to see the fans happy is the best thing. I’m sure they will do their best to keep it going. They have an important games, so I will definitely see how they do during the season.”