Brighton are no Premier League nice guys – they are horrible to play against

From a distance, the patronising assumption is that Brighton and Hove Albion are one of the “nice” football clubs. Their comeback story, from when Skint records was an apposite shirt sponsor; the cheerful gull on the emblem; the dozens of keen young boys poring over spreadsheets in an underground scouting bunker. What is not to like? Plenty, if you are playing against them.

Tottenham were terrorised into mistakes from scrambled thinking in the first half, punished every time they hesitated. Danny Welbeck closed down Ben Davies to win a corner, the Spurs defender punched the air in anger. Seeing his team cowed with their passing, the otherwise impassive Ange Postecoglou span around in frustration as another ball went backwards.

The Spurs manager would prefer his team to be on the front foot forever, but Brighton gave them little opportunity for 80 minutes, playing with a physicality and speed Spurs could not match. There were glimpses of vulnerability. Left-back Igor Julio was targeted with occasional success in the first half but Pervis Estupinan replaced him at the break, a weak link tightened by a full-back who can casually slam in a goal from 30 yards.

It is all led by Roberto De Zerbi, who looks like a complete nightmare to work for. Within minutes he was swearing at his colleagues on the bench as if they were the ones who failed to award a foul for a marginally hefty challenge. Any balls sent out of play into his orbit were caught or controlled as if to make a point: standards. Even when it literally does not matter.

He has the ear of his players and it does not hurt to have fans building a siege mentality. After one debatable decision against, with the manager’s broadsides at referees fresh in the mind, the home supporters chanted “De Zerbi’s right / the refs are s----”. No let up from assistant Andrea Maldera either, bad cop to De Zerbi’s worse cop, who looked furious with sub Carlos Baleba for failing to return quickly enough from a touchline warm-up.

None of this would fly if the results were not forthcoming or, crucially, if it were not fun. Brighton’s galaxy-brained recruitment strategy finds space for some players apparently past their peak. Danny Welbeck, with career seemingly in decline, looks utterly re-energised. James Milner is still playing at the ripe old age of 83 and hit a post at 2-0 with a screamer which would have brought the house down.

There is plenty of skill too, Brighton’s tenacity earning their flair players to deploy their talents. The first goal came after Joao Pedro took a circuitous but high-speed route around a baffled Spurs defence. Mostly though, you notice Brighton’s grit.

Every corner is a threat, every high ball is contested with gusto, enormous centre backs Lewis Dunk and Jan Paul van Hecke used their physicality to the limit of the rules. Joao Pedro took a mild brush in the face from Richalison as his invitation to roll around as if assaulted with an anvil. Usually this is behaviour which turns other clubs’ fans against you, but Brighton’s intensity does the opposite. Their clear fallibility at the back helps.

An untidy end to their game made the final minutes needlessly tense, with Brighton’s occasionally frantic defending finally punished after a number of offside reprieves. Dunk looked too tired to challenge Davies for Spurs’ second and a game which seemed settled stayed exciting to the end. “I am really proud for the last 10 minutes, not for the first 80, because it’s too easy to speak about them,” said De Zerbi, suggesting his team would never be the sort to breeze through Premier League games without hardship. “We have to accept that because we are Brighton.”

Here is something for the neutrals, then, steel and softness together. At both ends, Brighton are thrilling to watch when playing like this.

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