Tottenham 2-1 Brighton: Harry Kane’s strike secures all three points for Spurs

Forget Harry Kane and his brittle eyelashes. By the end of this fight with Brighton, Tottenham’s medical staff were lucky not to have black eyes and a strange nosebleed. That is the risk you run if you bump into Roberto De Zerbi in such a mood.

The Italian was a bearded ball of fire and fury all afternoon. He was on the warpath from before the first whistle – berating Cristian Stellini and waving his finger in his counterpart’s face – until minute 60, when both managers saw the red.

They were the pitfalls for a massive uproar that emptied both benches and came to the end of an hour of sultry hostilities.

No one will have been more relieved than fourth official Jeremy Simpson that Antonio Conte has been banned from North London.

Before descending the tunnel – and continuing their war of words – the two bosses played peacemaker in a shouting and shoving match that continued as play continued in the background. Oh yes, there was a football match here too. In the end, against all reasonable explanation, Spurs won. This could be a big result in the battle for Champions League football.

The hosts took the lead in the 10th minute with a stunning long shot from Son Heung-min

Lewis Dunk put Brighton level with a header shortly after the half hour mark

They had been guided by Son Heung-min’s wonder goal – his 100th in the Premier League – before Lewis Dunk’s header leveled Brighton before the break. Eleven minutes from time, however, Harry Kane took advantage of a mistake by Kaoru Mitoma to take all three points. In between, Brighton saw two goals disallowed – both for handball, both controversial – and three penalties disallowed. They were also marginal.

First, the ball hit Clement Lenglet’s arm. Then Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg stepped on Mitoma’s foot. And then, late in time, Lenglet was holding Dunk’s shirt. None was given.

The Spurs don’t care. Despite the dissent, despite the chants Daniel Levy shouted. Despite the fact that it is played away for large parts of this. Perhaps it was luck that De Zerbi was tucked away at the final whistle.

He and Stellini had clashed as players in Italy. Before that, the Spurs boss recalled an “aggressive” player and praised a “great manager”. It turned out to be a rather fitting character assessment, all things considered.

Certainly their beef proved that Kane’s amateur drama at Everton was much ado about nothing.

Here, after just 15 minutes, a vein began to bulge from De Zerbi’s neck, as Brighton were a goal down and already paying the price for bad luck and bad refereeing. At least in the eyes of their manager. There was nothing Jason Steele could do as Son took the ball just outside the Brighton penalty area and Joel Veltman got up before shuffling on his right foot and curling a sublime effort into the far corner. That didn’t stop Brighton from complaining. The visitors felt that Danny Welbeck had been caught in the run-up. It really seemed like a marginal phone call. One that could have gone either way, but rarely falls for visitors on a property like this.

As with the early penalty against Lenglet, when the ball from the rubble of a Brighton hit the defender’s arm.

However, neither was as contentious as the handball against Mitoma which netted a first Brighton equalizer.

The Zerbi nearly missed the chance – he was busy hopping around in frustration and turned around on his bench around the same time Alexis Mac picked Allister Mitoma, who muffled the ball and finished behind Lloris.

The assistant referee gave handball, repetition after repetition confirmed only one thing: the ball hit somewhere between Mitoma’s arm and shoulder. No blurry image or pixelated clip gave a conclusive answer; finally the decision was made.

That did little to appease De Zerbi’s anger. At least his players kept a cool head – even as it became increasingly difficult to fathom how far behind they were.

The Spurs continued to threaten in flashes and the visitors needed brilliant last ditch challenges from Dunk and Veltman to keep the score at 1-0.

But Brighton was the more cohesive, more dangerous – better – team. Sometimes they played with Tottenham. A shot from Mac Allister was punished and moments later the excellent Moises Caicedo fired an attempt off the post.

Kaoru Mitoma thought he had tied the Seagulls earlier, but his goal was disallowed

Similarly, Danny Welbeck also had a goal disallowed for handball following a VAR review

Hear the first minor altercation from the stands. There were a few boos for halftime and sarcastic cheers when Hugo Lloris chose to go long.

By then, the Spurs had surrendered nearly two-thirds of the ball and their lead had also evaporated. Despite all the slick interplay that had put Tottenham in trouble, the equalizer was so easy. Solly March sent a corner kick to the back post, where Dunk waited to go home.

That almost made De Zerbi cross the line. As the visitors celebrated, he began venting and gesturing to Spurs assistant Ryan Mason. Minutes later, the Italian saw a pass headed straight out of play.

He sank to one knee, he let out a visceral roar. And that vein started to burst again. Halftime did little to break the pattern of this game. The Brighton collective continued to poke and investigate Tottenham, who continued to cause trouble thanks to individual brilliance.

Cristian Stellini and Roberto De Zerbi both received red cards after a brawl on the pitch

Soon both teams were a manager down. The spark was another disallowed goal for Brighton. This time, Mac Allister would have handled the ball after being hit by Welbeck’s shot. His arms were tucked into his body, but the deflection took the ball under Lloris.

That decision, and the ensuing fight, lit up the blue touch paper. Tackles flew in, supporters clamored for Mauricio Pochettino, Hojbjerg kicked Mitoma, who then tried one too many to give Spurs the ball and Kane the winner.

By this time, Stellini was watching from the press box and Mason was in charge. Should he take charge against Bournemouth, will he be interim interim boss?

The Zerbi faces a new touchline suspension – he’s already had two this season and is in danger of missing Brighton’s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United. He has to get over this first