Harry Kane hit the bottle as Tottenham's rollercoaster veered back into Champions League contention.
The England captain celebrated his 22nd goal of the season for Spurs with added froth - by volleying a plastic bottle of Coca Cola thrown by jubilant visiting supporters at the Amex. His clinical finish lifted King Harry above Frank Lampard into fifth, on 178 goals, in the all-time list of Premier League scorers.
And while Kane remains thirst among equals, Tottenham are not out of contention for a top-four finish by a long chalk. Head coach Antonio Conte, watching a replay of his talisman's finish and supplementary volley, laughed: “We are very happy because Harry is scoring a lot now and you know very well he struggled a bit at the start of this season.
“As a manager, I know that I have a world-class striker who can score in every game, and every single player knows to have Harry in your team makes you stronger. But at the same time Harry is starting to understand this team, and he is starting to enjoy the way we are playing with us together and with his team-mates.
“I think he deserves to win something in his career because we are talking about a fantastic player. It was a good performance. It's right to have ambition and important to have a target - a difficult target because to reach fourth place is not simple, but I know we are ready to fight in every game.”
They may blow hot and cold like a hairdryer, but Conte's kings of inconsistency play top-four rivals West Ham this weekend - and Arsenal have yet to tiptoe up the Seven Sisters Road for the north London derby they were desperate to call off two months ago. Kane said: “We just need to keep winning games. West Ham are right there in the top-four chase so it will be a really tough game, and for momentum it will be an important one going into the international break.”
Brighton were already celebrating a big win before a ball was kicked – after chairman Tony Bloom's horse Energumene romped home in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham festival. But that's now six defeats in a row, and only 10 goals at home all season, for the Seagulls. Stop the carousel, Albion want to get off.
Tottenham should have drawn first blood after only five minutes, when Kane charged down dithering home keeper Robert Sanchez's clearance, only to drag his shot surprisingly wide of an empty net from a tight angle. Instead, the privilege fell to Brighton striker Neal Maupay, who caught Eric Dier with a trailing arm and left the England defender's face covered in ketchup and a sporting a prop forward's wraparound bandage.
But there was no sticking plaster or bandage on earth Brighton could apply to their wounded pride when Spurs broke through fortuitously eight minutes before the break. Dejan Kulusevski's left-foot shot from 20 yards lacked venom, but Cristian Romero's inadvertent deflection wrong-footed Sanchez.
The £42 million Argentine defender's celebration of his first goal for Spurs was suitably sheepish, and neutrals appalled by Romero's classless goading of own-goal victim Harry Maguire at Old Trafford last weekend would have preferred anyone but him to get off the mark.
Kane doubled Spurs' lead 12 minutes after the break, racing clear to bury Rodrigo Bentancur's pass, and he was also denied a blatant penalty in stoppage time. Brighton boss Graham Potter admitted: “I can't fault the players' effort and application but we can't feel sorry for ourselves. We have to deal with it and find a solution.”
