Evan Ferguson returned to the Brighton starting line-up for the first time since March as they overcame Premier League rivals Wolves in the Carabao Cup third round.
Carlos Baleba's thunderous 30-yard strike set Fabian Hurzeler's side on course for a nervy 3-2 win.
Cameroon midfielder Baleba rifled home his maiden Seagulls goal in the 19th minute before Simon Adingra doubled the lead at the Amex Stadium with another eye-catching effort.
Wolves vastly improved after Goncalo Guedes’ 44th-minute strike changed the momentum but were made to pay for their profligacy as Ferdi Kadioglu’s late finish gave Albion breathing space.
Tommy Doyle reignited hope of forcing a penalty shootout by firing home via the underside of the crossbar in added time before the hosts held on to maintain their unbeaten start under Hurzeler.
After a bright start to the contest, Ferguson was withdrawn after an hour, with the Brighton manager crediting him with "good shots and good actions in possession" but added that "he needs to train 100% and use sessions to improve and get as fit as possible. Then I'm sure he'll help us."
He wasn't the only Irish player in action, with the maligned Matt Doherty setting up Guedes' for the visitors opening goal with a fine cut-back.
Late goals by Djed Spence and Brennan Johnson helped Tottenham avoid an almighty upset at Coventry in the Carabao Cup.
Spurs were set to follow up Sunday's painful derby defeat to Arsenal with a 1-0 loss in the third round after Brandon Thomas-Asante fired the Championship side into a deserved lead after 63 minutes.
Moments earlier, Ange Postecoglou’s decision to substitute Lucas Bergvall had been met with boos from the away end.
However, with time running out and Postecoglou’s bold prediction last weekend of always winning silverware in his second season being set to come back to bite him, Djed Spence found an equaliser with three minutes left.
Spot-kicks were still on the cards until Rodrigo Bentancur played through Brennan Johnson, who chipped home in the 92nd minute to earn Tottenham a precious 2-1 win and leave their travelling support singing about Wembley.
While it was an edgy evening for Spurs, Ange Postecoglou credited his team's character after a difficult weekend.
"We had to hang in there. We had to work really, really hard just to stay in the game and obviously going a goal behind makes it even more challenging," Postecoglou said.
"At the end there, we showed some real spirit and character, which is probably what's been missing in the first four games.
"We’ve had the performance, but we haven’t had that relentlessness to get a result. You sense that in the last 10 minutes, we got real belief out of that and hopefully that’s a good sign moving forward."
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