JAKARTA - Tottenham Hotspur fell at the Brighton & Hove Albion headquarters when they lost 0-1 to the hosts in the closing match of the 21st week of the Premier League at Amex Stadium, Brighton, England, Sunday local time (Monday WIB).
The absence of the injured Harry Kane made Tottenham's front line even more sterile and failed to score the ball into Brighton's goal from the eight attempted shots they fired throughout the match.
On the other hand, Brighton played aggressively with no less than 16 attempted shots, one of which was able to convert Leandro Trossard into the only goal that determined victory.
The result was Brighton's first win at their home game this season, but Graham Potter's side have yet to move from 17th in the standings with 21 points.
Meanwhile, Tottenham (33) threw away the opportunity to get past West Ham United (35) who lost the match earlier. Tottenham stuck in sixth, just below West Ham, according to the official Premier League page records.
Jose Mourinho is trying to overcome Kane's absence by placing Steven Bergwijn at the forefront of Tottenham, supported by the duo Gareth Bale and Son Heung-min in the second layer of attack.
Instead, it was Brighton who was close to opening up the lead three minutes after the kick-off when Pascal Gross tried to finish Alexis Mac Allister's pass, but his shot still hit the post.
Even so, Brighton still looked sharper up front and the result in the 17th minute Trossard converted Gross's pass with a close-range shot to put the hosts ahead.
The more depressed Tottenham only created another chance in the 30th minute when Bergwijn caught Son's pass, but his shot was still narrowly off the side of the net.
Seven minutes later, Bale, who was expected to help Tottenham's attacking line, turned out to be the team's goal saver when he was well positioned to clear a Lewis Dunk header in a corner.
Brighton's lead lasted until halftime and Tottenham entered the second half with an attempt to retaliate, but Carlos Vinicius' header for Bale's corner was stopped by goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.
On a different side of the net, Hugo Lloris was also forced to struggle to block Ben White's cheat that deflected Gross's cross.
In the 75th minute, Son makes a stab but the lack of help makes him decide to finish the attack on his own and his shot is easily defused by Sanchez.
Moments later Sanchez made another fine save to block Vinicius' curling shot.
Brighton certainly should be satisfied to have won the three points, even though they had the chance to win with a more comfortable score six minutes from the end of the day if Aaron Connolly's shot was not blocked by Toby Alderweireld who put his body in front of the Tottenham goal.
In the next match, Brighton will play early on Wednesday (3/2) when they visit Liverpool headquarters, the day before Tottenham play the North West London derby to host Chelsea.
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