Until the Danish playmaker's low shot from just outside the penalty area whizzed across the lush turf and past Mat Ryan, it seemed Brighton had withstood a second-half siege and would escape with a priceless point in their relegation battle.
Chris Hughton's side erected a green wall in front of Tottenham for more or less the entire game, leaving the home fans groaning in frustration -- none more so than when Toby Alderweireld's shot with 20 minutes remaining hit the inside of the post and rolled across the face of goal.
In his desperation, Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino even sent on outcast Dutch striker Vincent Janssen in the 80th minute for his first action of the season.
But in the end it was Eriksen who punctured Brighton's armour from Tottenham's 29th goal attempt -- 21 of which were from outside the penalty area.
It secured a fourth win from four matches in all competitions for Tottenham inside their magnificent new stadium and more importantly it lifted them three points above fourth-placed Chelsea with three games to go and four ahead of Arsenal who have played one game less. Tottenham are six clear of Manchester United.
It seems that none of the four teams in contention want to clinch those coveted Champions League spots!
Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham all failed to win at the weekend, which gives Spurs the chance to open up a three-point lead, from Chelsea in fourth, tonight.
The big news for Tottenham is that Hugo Lloris is back in the starting XI, after sitting out Saturday's defeat at Manchester City. Fernando Llorente is also in from the start.
Meanwhile for Brighton, it's changes aplenty for Chris Hughton's side - six, in fact, from the team who earned an invaluable point at Molineux on Saturday.
Six days ago, Mauricio Pochettino's men somehow prevailed in an epic Champions League tie against Manchester City, before playing City for the third time in 11 days on Saturday, succumbing to a 1-0 defeat in the Premier League.
The Independent's very own Jack Pitt-Brooke wrote about 10 things we learned from the City vs Spurs trilogy:
Despite Saturday's draw at Wolves on Saturday, Brighton are in torrid form:
The Seagulls haven't scored in six games in all competitions, and have won just two from their last 14 in the league. They're currently in 17th, and are three points ahead of Cardiff City below them (this is their game in hand tonight).
That being said, Brighton could do what Crystal Palace, Manchester City and Huddersfield Town couldn't, and that's be the first away team to score at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
We're just five minutes from kick-off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium!
A reminder that we'll be focusing predominantly on the Tottenham vs Brighton game with live updates, with the key moments from Watford vs Southampton also covered!
As you may imagine, Spurs are dominating possession, and seem particularly focused on using the skilful Lucas Moura on the right wing and the clinical Heung Son-Min on the left wing.
This time though, Christian Eriksen shoots from range but it's dragged well wide. Mind you, Dele Alli almost flicked it goalwards.
