Crisis averted. The vultures had been circling around Mauricio Pochettino and Tottenham but, while this was hardly a sparkling display, they ended up short of fodder this time. Spurs came through in testing conditions thanks to Harry Kane’s penalty and a fine breakaway second from Érik Lamela; a fourth consecutive defeat, an ignominy that has eluded them since 2004, never looked especially likely and, as responses to adversity go, this will go down as a successful exercise.Pochettino had pointedly questioned his players’ resolve after the reverse at Internazionale and this looked an apposite stage on which to offer a response. Brighton had won three of their previous four home games against last season’s top six; this fixture started under portentous skies and amid hammering rain, offering few of the ingredients sought by anyone seeking a smooth confidence-booster. Related: Brighton 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur: Premier League — as it happened Related: Riyad Mahrez double caps five-star Manchester City’s rout of Cardiff Continue readingreadfullarticle
