Gareth Bale admitted it was a “great feeling” as he scored his first Tottenham goal in more than seven years.
Bale’s late winner sent Tottenham up to second place in the Premier League even though, incredibly, it was their first home league win of the season.
Tottenham super-sub Bale, who is on loan from Real Madrid, scored the 73rd minute winner from Sergio Reguilon’s cross after a game dominated by VAR controversies.
Bale said: “It’s a great feeling. I just want to come on and do a job for the team. You want to make an impact. I was lucky enough to get the goal, so I’m very happy.
“A lot (of credit to Reguilon) because it was his right foot! It was obviously great play from him. I was in the right place at the right time. It was nice to get a goal and get off the mark straight away.
“(We can be) very competitive. We don’t have to get too carried away. We know it’s a long season and there are a lot of teams. We have to keep working hard and we’ll go from there.”
Bale insists that Tottenham are still developing as a team and said it was important they bounced back after Europa League defeat at Antwerp as he also admitted he is still not at full match fitness.
He added: “Everyone always talks about individual players but I’ve always said I’m a team player. If I come on and just helped the team defend and we won 2-1, I would have been just as happy. The most important thing is the collectiveness of the team.
Were Tottenham deserving of their victory over Brighton? Have your say here.
“It was a great reaction from the team (from midweek). We’re learning how to close out games. We’re growing every game. Even if we’re making mistakes, we’re learning from them. We can only use that as a positive.
“I haven’t played a lot of football. Coming here, I had a little problem with my knee from international games. It’s taking a bit of time. I’m being patient, I’m working hard. I need to keep working as hard as I can.”
Brighton boss Graham Potter was unhappy with VAR decisions as his side were denied a penalty appeal, one was given against them and even Tariq Lamptey’s goal was checked for a foul in the build-up.
Potter said: “I'm confused by everything to be honest about our equaliser. When you watch it live it could have been a foul, he didn't see it, and I'm confused by our penalty shout as well to be honest. That's VAR for you.
"It's nice for Tariq Lamptey, I'm sure he wanted to be on the winning team though. We are so happy with his effort and performance, he'll get better and better.
"He's got that ability to threaten the goal with assists, winning penalties or goals so it's nice for him.”
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