Tottenham raise hope of Champions League charge as Dejan Kulusevski’s Jesse Lingard-like impact continues

It is hard to get excited about any Tottenham victory at the moment given their consistent inconsistency, but a 2-0 win over Brighton increased the pressure on fourth-placed Arsenal and offered fresh hope of a late push for the Champions League places.

With Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool, Spurs moved to within three points of their rivals – with a home north London derby still to come.

Of course, if Spurs are to truly maintain a top-four push in the run-in, they must follow up this win with another against West Ham on Sunday and finally bring to an end their almost farcical cycle of win-loss-win-loss since the turn of the year.

Cristian Romero’s deflection and a record-breaking Harry Kane goal sealed a comfortable win over the struggling Seagulls and if Spurs had taken their chances it could easily have been another big scoreline in the vein of the 4-0 win at Leeds and 5-0 thrashing of Everton.

Kane beat the offside trap from Rodrigo Bentancur’s brilliant pass and rolled under Robert Sanchez to make the game safe after Dejan Kulusevski’s shot deflected in off Romero in the first half.

Kane also missed an open goal inside five minutes, while Kulusevski and Sergio Regulion – twice – squandered one-on-ones with Brighton goalkeeper Sanchez, who kept the scoreline respectable. Spurs also defended more robustly than in recent weeks, restricting goal-shy Brighton to no clear cut chances, with Romero and Eric Dier particularly impressive.

Like Leeds and Everton before them, Brighton are a side in free-fall, with this their sixth defeat on the bounce.

For Spurs, there are only so many conclusions to draw from this result and the real test of whether this could be a springboard for an improved run will come against the Hammers