Brighton moved up to fifth in the Women's Super League by beating Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at Brisbane Road.
A 42nd-minute strike from Fran Kirby was enough to seal just their second away win all season, and their first WSL victory since November 16th.
They now sit one point clear of sixth-placed Liverpool and five points ahead of today's opponents, Tottenham.
Brighton had not beaten Tottenham in their last six WSL matches, but Kirby's goal at the end of the first half — a first-ever strike for the former Chelsea player against them — changed that.
She placed a delicate shot into the bottom left corner after Rachel McLauchlan cut it back for her, registering her third assist in three matches in the process.
Tottenham, who were missing captain and top goalscorer Bethany England through injury, never clicked and clearly missed her absence. They had just three shots through the match, none of which were on target.
Story of the Match
Tottenham made two changes to the side that narrowly lost 2-1 to Manchester City. Amanda Nilden and Olivia Holdt replaced Charlotte Grant and England respectively.
Brighton drew 2-2 with Chelsea last time out and they made just one change; Maisie Symonds came in for Vicky Losada.
At a cold Brisbane Road, Spurs lacked a focal point in the opening 30 minutes. They started brightly with Holdt and Matilda Vinberg in the final third, but failed to secure a single shot on target.
They missed England's presence, who was unavailable for today with a quad issue. The 30-year-old has scored eight league goals this season – the third-most in the division – whilst only Eveliina Summanen, two, had scored more than one WSL goal for Spurs before today.
Brighton have shared their goals around far more equally this season, and they finished the first half as the more threatening team. Fran Kirby fired a shot over the bar 33 minutes in, whilst Kop was on hand to stop Marisa Olislagers' corner going all the way in minutes later.
Olislagers caused problems again in the 38th minute as the 24-year-old received the ball 25 yards out from goal and forced Kop into a fine save to her left. As Brighton launched wave after wave on Tottenham's defence, the deadlock finally broke.
Luana Buhler cleared the ball directly to Symonds, whose deflected shot off Ella Morris found McLauchlan at the back post. The 27-year-old cut it back to Kirby and she placed it delicately into the bottom left corner.
In the second half, Tottenham once again struggled to threaten Melina Loeck in goal. Even with the substitutions of Lenna Gunning-Williams and Jessica Naz for Nilden and Holdt, they looked disjointed in the final third.
While Brighton also didn't dominate, they could have extended their lead. Nikita Parris guided a firm header directly at Kop after latching onto Olislagers' teasing cross, whilst Madison Haley also directed a weak header directly at the Dutchwoman.
As Spurs pushed for an equaliser in the closing stages, Michelle Agyemang nearly extended Brighton's lead as Olislagers' cross caused yet more problems for the hosts. In the end, they didn't rue their missed chances, with Spurs failing to threaten Loeck all match despite their attacking philosophy.
Spurs next travel to West Ham on Sunday whilst Brighton go up north on the same day to Leicester City.
Player of the Match – Marisa Olislagers
Olislagers played a key role in Brighton's victory today. The 24-year-old acted as a consistent threat from deep, curling in crosses to the likes of Parris and Agyemang.
On another day, she would have registered an assist, but her performance was just as impressive as her one against Spurs in December, where she scored a crucial equaliser late on.