Pochettino’s team sought to impose

It was on this day last year that Brighton ensured their promotion from the Championship. On Tuesday night at the Amex Stadium they took a small step towards retaining their Premier League status for another season.

The fiendish nature of their run-in has been well-documented and Chris Hughton’s team must still face the Manchester clubs, Liverpool and Burnley in their final matches. They needed something, anything, to allow them to breathe a little easily after a worrying run of one point from an available 15. This was it.

The horror of Saturday’s 3-2 defeat at Crystal Palace was forgotten as Brighton put their bodies on the line to earn precious reward. The roar from the home crowd at the full-time whistle told its own story. Brighton http://www.officialbluejaysproshop.com/Marcus_Stroman_Jersey are eight points clear of third-from-bottom Southampton, although they have played a game more.

Tottenham have a bigger match round the corner in the shape of Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United and Mauricio Pochettino appeared to have one eye on it with his team selection. He made six changes from Saturday’s home defeat by Manchester City and omitted Davinson Sánchez and Dele Alli from the squad entirely. He gave Toby Alderweireld his first Premier League action since 28 October and the centre-half was http://www.denverbroncosshops.com/Tom_Jackson_Jersey_Cheap not overly extended.

However, Pochettino made the point yet again that the league was the priority. The personnel changes, he said, were purely down to fatigue from the Womens Nolan Cromwell Jersey City game. “If we win the FA Cup, we are not going to play Champions League,” Pochettino said. “You only do that if you finish in the top four. Today was the most important game.”

For Tottenham it felt like points dropped. Pochettino was entitled to say that his team had “dominated” the game in terms of possession Authentic Leonard Fournette Jersey and territory but he was also on the money when he lamented a “lack of aggression” in the final third. They were unable to create sufficient clear-cut chances.

Harry Kane put Spurs in front with his 26th goal of the Premier League season – his Golden Boot rival, Mohamed Salah of Liverpool, has 30 – but Brighton showed their strength of character with an instant riposte through Pascal Gross’s penalty. Hughton had given him the responsibility after a Case Keenum Womens Jersey couple of penalty misses this season by Glenn Murray.

Tottenham’s lead over fifth-placed Chelsea could be cut to five points with four matches to play when their London rivals go to Burnley on Thursday. But theirs remains a position of strength. Three of their final four matches are at Wembley – against Watford, Newcastle and Leicester – and the other one is a trip to West Brom.

Pochettino’s team sought to impose their pressing game and they sparked danger on a number of occasions when they forced errors from Brighton high up the pitch. Gross was guilty of the stray pass that set in motion the move for Kane’s goal at the beginning of the second half. wholesale jerseys wholesale jerseys wholesale jerseys wholesale jerseys wholesale jerseys