**Tottenham**took another dent in their bid for Premier League survival, drawing 2-2 with Brighton.
Spurs were seeking their first points under new head coach Roberto de Zerbi, whose former club were under the cosh for long stretches of the first half. **Pedro Porro**put the hosts ahead, but a Kaoru Mitoma volley restored the deadlock before half time. Xavi Simons sparked into life to give the fans belief that a long-awaited triumph would be theirs, but Georginio Rutter rallied back off the bench.
The North London outfit still sit in the drop zone, and time is running out to turn their fortunes.
Story of the Match
**Roberto de Zerbi**switched four members of the lineup he picked for the trip to Sunderland. Kevin Danso filled in for club captain Cristian Romero, who will miss the rest of the campaign because of a knee injury. Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur, who made his first start since hamstring surgery in January, came in for the more junior pair of Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall in the middle of the park. Xavi Simons replaced **Richarlison**as one of the pieces in the frontline.
Following five wins in their last six league fixtures, **Brighton**were baying for a place in continental competition. Fabian Hurzeler had decided to use an unchanged starting eleven off the back of a 2-0 triumph over Burnley. Olivier Boscagli deputised for the suspended club captain Lewis Dunk in central defence. Yasin Ayari and Pascal Gross got the nod in the engine room, benching Carlos Baleba. Danny Welbeck was again preferred over Georginio Rutter to lead the line in the attack.
Spurs started solidly enough at the **Stadium of Light**last weekend, and the same would be the case on home soil. A firm block stopped Dominic Solanke from latching onto a Destiny Udogie delivery, and the left back then fell to the floor in the box after a quickly taken Pedro Porro free kick. VAR would briefly observe the incident, but there would be no opportunity to score from twelve yards.
The first 20 minutes of the match passed without much of offensive note for the Seagulls. However, Hurzeler, serving the second game of a two-match ban, was soon forced into an early substitution: Diego Gomez had gone down in pain, and Kaoru Mitoma switched in for him as a left winger.
The offensive continued from de Zerbi’s men. Xavi saw a strike from the edge of the penalty area blocked at the second phase of a corner, then Randal Kolo Muani blazed the ball over the bar.
Yankuba Minteh was the brightest spark for the Seagulls at this stage of the showdown. He dodged several tackles before forcing **Micky van de Ven**into action. The Dutch defender then turned a cross from Minteh onto his own post, and Welbeck was unable to force the rebound over the white line.
Spurs needed to regroup a little, and they responded in the best way. Xavi set himself to dink a delivery into the penalty area, and Porro pushed forward to connect, getting his head to the ball before Bart Verbruggen. The supporters were excited, and rightly so: while West Ham and Nottingham Forest have fixtures to play, the scoreline, as it stood, took the team out of the relegation zone.
A second strike certainly would have galvanised hopes that the triumph was coming, and Xavi was the width of the post away from hitting the target successfully in the 42nd minute. Porro attacked the rebound, and the Belgian shot stopper had to react sharply, tipping the ball above the crossbar.
The hosts have been down on their luck, and **Brighton**produced a sucker punch on the verge of half time. Gross grabbed the ball on the right flank, firing a delivery towards the far post. Mitoma stood all on his own, side footing a volley into the net. It was all square in North London at the break.
**Brighton**began the action after the restart on the right note. Danso had to cut out a cross from Minteh, then blocked a strike at the target and Gallagher backed him up. Mitoma and Minteh were creating angst in the stadium, and an agitated de Zerbi picked up a yellow card for his troubles.
Ten minutes after the restart, the cavalry came into the equation for the hosts. Mathys Tel took the place of his compatriot on the right wing while Gray took over the role of the booked Bissouma.
Gallagher went through the gears to engage the press, jumping towards Verbruggen, and the attempted pass from the goalkeeper took a sizeable deflection towards the touchline. The guests got off lightly.
Twice, the midfielder burrowed his way into the danger zone without winning a penalty, then his flick found Xavi, whose effort was blocked. The ball dropped for Joao Palhinha, substituted on for Bentancur, at the top of the box, and Verbruggen had to duck down to parry away the danger.
For the final quarter of an hour in normal time, Gallagher gave way to Bergvall and Djed Spence stepped in for Udogie at left back. The Swedish substitute soon played his part in a massive moment.
**Jan Paul van Hecke**advanced, ball at his feet, but Bergvall obstructed his progress, nicking the ball into his control. He fed Xavi, who backed himself to shift inside Mats Wieffer and van Hecke and find the target himself. His angled effort cracked the post and nestled in the net, answering the call.
Now it was just for Spurs to stay professional, and time told they could not keep it together. Danso dawdled on a channel ball, and van Hecke atoned for his error, turning the tables by snaffling the possession inside the box. The ball was laid backwards for Rutter, who rattled home an equaliser.
This second leveller at the death stunned Spurs, who again could not comport themselves. Back post deliveries were peppering the penalty area, and the backline was stressed. Spurs survived, getting one more opportunity to take all three points. Bergvall wriggled out of pressure in the danger zone, but Xavi stole the ball off his toes, and Gray eventually fired from a narrow angle: 2-2 it ended.