Seagulls Surprise Spurs by the Seashore

Who knew a vanilla 4-4-2 could be so lethal?

Then again, when it's a North London sides defenders attempting resistance, it sometimes seems like a 1-7-2 could get the job done.

Brighton's Seagulls put strikers Aaron Connolly and Neal Maupay damn near shoulder-to-shoulder with Tottenham's central defense all game, exploiting Tottenham Hotspurs' lack of speed there to register a 3-0 victory that was as dominating as the score hinted.

 

Worse, Spurs might lose goalkeeper Hugo Lloris for the rest of the season due to a dislocated elbow.

It happened after he botched a save with two healthy arms, but sarcasm aside, unless Tottenham solves its woes in front of goal, this could be an even more devastating development than it already is.

 

The match at the Amex Stadium began busy, but at the same time, stunning.

Within three minutes, Lloris fumbled a relatively simple Pascal Gross cross on his own goal line, leaving Maupay in position to pop one home:

 

With Lloris landing awkwardly on his left arm, the elbow went, and so did Spurs' chances of salvaging anything out of the afternoon. The French international was replaced by Paulo Gazzaniga, who'd best get up to Premiership speed in a hurry.

It wasn't fast enough in this one, though.

Brighton kept going, and a half-hour later, Gazzaniga may have saved a Connoly's attempt, but dude collected the rebound himself and finished the job:

 

Mauricio Pochettino went to his bench to seek solutions after intermission, with Harry Winks replacing Tanguy Ndombele.

Spurs tightend up a tad, but Brighton still killed the game in the 65th minute. A Lewis Dunk long ball found Connoly down the right side. He proceeded to cut inside Toby Alderweireld and beat Gazzaniga with a spiffy finish:

 

This three-pack of points lifted the Seagulls up to mid-table.

Spurs, meanwhile, have got a lot to solve before they even worry themselves about standings. This doesn't look like the sorta season they were expecting to have.