Tottenham vs Brighton: Dele Alli magic secures comeback win for Spurs – 5 things we learned

A moment of magic from Dele Alli earned Tottenham Hotspur a vital win over Brighton in the ideal response to their derby defeat to Chelsea.

Harry Kane thought he had put Spurs ahead when he raced clear and nudged the ball beyond Mat Ryan, but VAR denied him by pointing to a marginal offside call. The Seagulls grew in confidence and grabbed the lead when Adam Webster powered home a header from Pascal Gross's free-kick.

Kane would not be denied though and hammered in from close range to bring the sides level. Graham Potter's side nearly retook the lead when Gross forced a fine save from Paulo Gazzaniga with a powerful free-kick from the edge of the area, arrowed towards the top left corner.

Alli then produced a piece of brilliance to put Spurs ahead, lifting the ball high and over Ryan and the ball dipped sharply to find the back of the net and earn three valuable points.

Here are five things we learned from the lunchtime kick-off at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Last week’s dismal defeat by Chelsea made one fact abundantly clear to Jose Mourinho: Eric Dier and Moussa Sissoko are not a viable midfield partnership.

Spurs fans had therefore expected to see club-record signing Tanguy Ndombele selected in midfield, perhaps alongside Dier with Sissoko pushed out wide. But Mourinho had other ideas. Instead he turned to Harry Winks, with Ndombele dropped from the matchday squad altogether.

Should Ndombele be worried? He has impressed in fits and starts for Spurs and scored a memorable goal against Aston Villa on the opening day of the season. But he still does not appear to have reached full fitness after an injury earlier into the season — something Mourinho may be holding against him. Will he be given the chance to turn his fortunes around? Or has Mourinho simply decided that the 22-year-old does not fit his system?

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Harry Kane just loves to score on Boxing Day and the Spurs striker made it five successive years scoring in this traditional fixture.

Kane was initially frustrated though, when he thought his latest Boxing Day strike had given Spurs the lead. He raced through on goal and tapped beyond the onrushing Mat Ryan, but VAR spotted Kane leaning offside by millimetres to deny him.

Kane's thirst for goals was evident though and after a rocky half for the hosts, in which Adam Webster had put them behind, Kane would not be denied, reacting sharply to the rebound from his own shot to power in from close range and bring the sides level. You can always rely on Kane on Boxing Day.

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Jose Mourinho sides are known for being organised and powerful when defending, with opponents tasked with manipulating the ball in tight spaces to break them down. Yet there is now a worrying trend with Spurs more than a month into the Mourinho era: they are vulnerable when defending, especially at set-pieces, both in terms of physicality and their concentration - as displayed against Chelsea.

But here, against Brighton, it was the former, with Adam Webster showing more desire in the air to hammer home his header and give the Seagulls the lead.

It is now just one clean sheet for Mourinho in eight games, when they blanked Burnley at home, meaning no club in the Premier League has conceded more than Mourinho's Spurs since he took over, with 15 goals.

It is simply not good enough and with many more issues to solve in the months ahead, it is concerning that the Portuguese has not at least made Spurs less fragile.

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Pascal Gross proved his worth in many ways against Spurs, with both his work rate and ease to link at the heart of Graham Potter's smooth system. But when afforded the opportunity, Gross is able to swing in dangerous balls to unlock the opposition.

And so it proved here, when he whipped one in from the right in the first half. Adam Webster, Shane Duffy and others propelled themselves towards the ball with the former converting Gross's free-kick for the opener with a powerful header.

The Seagulls are evolving under Potter, but they always have Plan B in the shape of Gross, who is right there with Kevin de Bruyne and others when delivering from dead ball situations.

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Lucas was poor against Chelsea last week. And he had a difficult first-half here. Lucas has magic in his boots but he is often guilty of holding onto the ball for far too long, cutting inside and wandering into cul-de-sacs when he would be far better off bursting into space. It was another poor showing and he appeared destined to be withdrawn early into the second-half.

And then Mourinho said his magic words.

Who knows exactly what he told Lucas at half-time, but it had the desired effect. Suddenly Lucas was everywhere, buzzing around and making a nuisance of himself. He played a vital role in Tottenham’s equaliser — beating two men and then offloading Harry Kane — and teamed up well with Christian Eriksen in the build-up to Tottenham’s second. It was an incredible turnaround that demonstrated why Mourinho has brought the Brazilian back into Tottenham’s first-team.