Albion cruised into a 4-0 lead thanks to two penalties by Joao Pedro, who now has 13 goals this season including eight spot-kicks, Jack Hinshelwood and a 30-yarder thunderbolt by the returning Pervis Estupinan.
But Albion had to dig deep in the closing stages when Spurs struck twice and hit the post while a booking for Lewis Dunk means he is out of Tuesday’s game at West Ham United.
De Zerbi said, “It was the best way to finish the year and I’m really proud of the last ten minutes. It’s too easy to talk about the first 80 minutes.
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“I’m sorry we conceded two goals and did not got a clean sheet but we are Brighton. We can play 80 like the first part of the game and the same Brighton can suffer a lot in the last ten minutes. We made mistake with first goal we conceded but we played a great game because we showed incredible courage to defend man to man for 90 minutes.”
The Italian was delighted with Joao’s contribution after he became the leading marksman from the spot in Europe’s top five leagues with a penalty in each half.
“He was the best player on the pitch, he played another incredible game,” said De Zerbi. “I’m pleased with his improvement in attitude and mentality. He defended for 90 minutes like a centre back and he is becoming a top player.”
With eight players out and Facundo Buonanotte and Igor going off De Zerbi admitted he had to do something different tactically to combat Spurs. He came up with a winger-less formation with three defenders, two central midfielders, two ‘lateral’ midfielders and two players behind Danny Welbeck. The tactical puzzle is something the Italian says he enjoys trying to solve.
“We needed something different. I am enjoying this time a lot because I am working harder than in the first part of the season to find different solutions. We needed to think better and take some risks and it worked very well.”