deadlock with a fine goal nine minutes after stepping off the
bench as a half-time substitute.
In-form Harry Kane made it 2-0 to Tottenham after 74 minutes
with a tap-in after Brighton keeper Christian Walton parried
Roberto Soldado's shot into his path.
It was the 21-year-old striker's seventh goal of the season.
Lamela had actually held up the restart but when the chance to
punish Brighton arrived, he made no mistake.
Both teams had been booed off by their own fans after
disappointing results at the weekend and both bosses are men
under pressure.
Mauricio Pochettino and Sami Hyypia questioned the mental
toughness of their players in the run-up to this game and have
bigger things to worry about than this competition.
Brighton have not won a Championship game since August and
made six changes from the team which drew at home to
Rotherham.
Spurs made 10 changes from the side which lost here to
Newcastle, but it was still an expensively-assembled team full of
internationals.
They roared out of the blocks to put the visitors under pressure.
Brighton were barely allowed to draw breath.
Aaron Lennon had a goalbound shot blocked by Rohan Ince and
18-year-old debutant Walton had saves to make from Jan
Vertonghen and Andros Townsend.
When Brighton did spring a rare counter-attack, they looked
dangerous.
Kazenga LuaLua was clean through after the simplest of passes
but let the ball run away from him and wasted the chance by
slicing a horrible volley well wide of the target.
Lennon slid in on a fine Soldado centre at the other end only to
stab it just over the crossbar from eight yards.
Soldado then had a fierce effort saved point-blank by Walton
after Ince had thrown himself into danger to block a shot from
Kane.
Spurs continued to be a danger but Brighton did a great job of
putting their bodies on the line to block shots and close down
space.
Chances were at a premium, with the home side resorting to
shooting from distance, and the home fans got more and more
restless.
Pochettino's mood was not helped when his side were not ready
for the restart – for the second game running.
On Sunday, it was Eric Dier caught napping after reappearing
late from the dressing room.This time referee Mark Clattenburg
had to delay the restart for Lamela to get ready.
Good job Ed Sheeran wasn't playing in London last night or
Clattenburg might not have been so lenient.
There was huge relief when Lamela played a neat one-two with
Soldado and slotted home in the 54th minute before Kane
sealed victory.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.
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