Tottenham Hotspur 1-4 Brighton: Europa League winners fade after fast start

Recently crowned Europa League winners Tottenham Hotspur began brightly but faded badly en route to a 4-1 defeat to Brighton, their 22nd in the Premier League (most in club history), to close out the 2024-25 season on Sunday.

WATCH — Tottenham Hotspur v Brighton full match replay

Spurs went ahead after just 17 minutes when Dominic Solanke converted from the penalty spot amid a rousing, much-improved start by the home side. It should have been 2-0 in the 38th minute but Bart Verbruggen denied Mathys Tel after Spurs countered and got the 20-year-old one-on-on for a golden opportunity. That moment turned out to be quite pivotal, as Ange Postecoglou’s side attempted just one more shot over the final 52 minutes of the game and quickly deflated as soon as Brighton equalized shortly after halftime — hardly a surprising development considering the raucous scenes of their open-top bus parade less than 48 hours earlier.

It was Jack Hinshelwood with Brighton’s first and second goals in the 51st and 64th, the latter a clever backheel from close range that wound up being the winner. Matt O’Riley scored from the penalty spot himself in the 88th minute and Diego Gomez added an emphatic exclamation point in stoppage time to score his first PL goal since joining from Inter Miami in January. Gomez uncorked a stunning curler from 30-plus yards out and well wide of the goal, tucked into the top corner at the far post with pinpoint precision.

So, Spurs (38 points) get their trophy, but they finish the league season with just 1 point per game and their worst-ever PL finish (17th) and their worst in the top flight since they were relegated in 1977. Brighton (61 points), meanwhile, finish 8th but miss out on European qualification due to Chelsea coming 4th. Had the Blues finished outside the top-five and won the Europa Conference League, 8th place would have earned a Conference league place next season.

Player ratings - Tottenham Hotspur vs Brighton

Tottenham Hotspur vs Brighton live updates - by Andy Edwards

Tottenham Hotspur vs Brighton final score: 1-4

Goalscorers: Dominic Solanke (17' - PK), Jack Hinshelwood (51', 64'), Matt O’Riley (88' - PK), Diego Gomez (90'+2)

GOAL! Spurs 1-4 Brighton: Gomez scores a beauty for his first in the Premier League (90'+2)

GOAL! Spurs 1-3 Brighton: O’Riley converts from the spot (88')

GOAL! Spurs 1-2 Brighton: Hinshelwood backheels the Seagulls ahead (64')

GOAL! Spurs 1-1 Brighton: Hinshelwood pokes home from a corner kick (51')

GOAL! Spurs 1-0 Brighton: Solanke converts from the spot after Tel gets kicked (17')

Spurs starting lineup

Vicario - Porro, Danso, Van de Ven, Udogie - Bentancur, Gray, Sarr - Johnson, Tel, Solanke

Brighton starting lineup

Verbruggen - Hinshelwood, Van Hecke, Webster, Igor - Wieffer, Baleba, Ayari - Gruda, Adingra, Minteh

How to watch Tottenham Hotspur vs Brighton live, stream link and start time

Kick off time: 11am ET Sunday (May 25)

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium — London

TV Channel: Peacock

Streaming: Stream live on Peacock

After a terrible season in the Premier League, Ange’s much-maligned Spurs beat Manchester United 1-0 in Bilbao on Thursday to win their first trophy in over 17 years and their first European trophy since 1984. They showed a pragmatic, sensible side to their play throughout the knockout rounds of the Europa League and have been rewarded with a trophy and a spot in the UEFA Champions League for next season. “Second season, mate.” But will this be Ange’s final game in charge of Spurs? Time will tell but fans of Tottenham Hotspur everywhere are ecstatic to have finally won a trophy. The time for planning for next season can come soon enough but this week is all about celebration, and relief, for Spurs.

Brighton are hoping they will be celebrating European qualification at the end of the season too. Fabian Huzeler’s side still have a faint chance of reaching Europe next season as they beat Liverpool 3-2 on Monday to put themselves in pole position to finish eighth in the Premier League table. If they finish in eighth they need Chelsea to finish outside of the top five and also win the UEFA Conference League (they play Real Betis in the final in Wroclaw, Poland next week) to seal a spot in the Conference League for next season. The Seagulls have won three of their last four and if they draw or win at Spurs, all eyes will be on Chelsea.

Tottenham Hotspur team news, focus

Spurs will rest most of their key players for this final game of the season, as the focus will be on celebrating their Europa League success at home with their fans. The last thing they want ahead of a return to the Champions League next season is to lose a key player to injury when they already know they’re going to finish in the lower reaches of the Premier League table. It will be intriguing to see what Ange Postecoglou says after the game about his future, as Spurs’ leadership team have a big decision to make this summer.

OUT: Dejan Kulusevski (knee - MORE), Dane Scarlett (groin), James Maddison (knee), Lucas Bergvall (ankle), Radu Dragusin (torn ACL - out for season), Timo Werner (hamstring)

Brighton team news, focus

Hurzeler has been battling with injuries to key players all season long and when Brighton are fully-fit they are clearly up there with the ‘best of the rest’ in the Premier League. They have so many talented attackers and the Seagulls will go at Spurs early to try and settle things by half time, then all eyes will be on the City Ground to see how Chelsea are getting on against Nottingham Forest.

OUT: Georginio Rutter (ankle), Joao Pedro (personal), Ferdi Kadioglu (toe), James Milner (thigh), Solly March (knee) | QUESTIONABLE: Jason Steele (wrist), Tariq Lamptey (knee)

Tottenham Hotspur vs Brighton prediction

Spurs will be in party mode but will still want to finish on a high. This game will be tighter than most expect but Brighton will give themselves a chance of European qualification. Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Brighton.