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Second-half goals from Erik Lamela and Harry Kane sent Tottenham into the quarter-finals of the League Cup at the expense of Championship side Brighton.

Winger Lamela, on at half-time, swept in from Robert Soldado's pass.

Brighton had a penalty appeal waved away soon after when Kazenga LuaLua fell in the area, and Kane stabbed in a rebound later on to seal Spurs' win.

Mark Clattenburg, dropped from officiating this weekend for breaches of protocol, was referee for the game.

The 39-year-old had found himself in trouble on Wednesday after leaving last Saturday's 1-1 draw between West Brom and Crystal Palace alone to attend an Ed Sheeran concert. He also broke Premier League rules by speaking on the phone to Crystal Palace boss Neil Warnock.

But aside from the decision not to award Brighton a penalty, Clattenburg kept himself largely out of the spotlight at White Hart Lane.

Instead, the focus was on Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino who, after winning his first four games in charge of Spurs, had overseen just two victories from the club's six fixtures before the visit of Brighton.

They have won only three league games at home all season, with Pochettino claiming the small size of the White Hart Lane pitch is stifling his side's attacking ability.

They certainly found themselves stifled by a well-organised Brighton defence in a first half of few chances - the best of those falling to Soldado, whose well-struck effort was saved by 18-year-old keeper Christian Walton.

Pochettino made a change at the start of the second half, with Aaron Lennon replaced by Lamela, and the substitute made a swift impact, exchanging passes with Soldado before sweeping a low shot into the far corner.

The goal forced Championship strugglers Brighton to abandon their defensive tactics and push forward, and the game could have followed a different path had Clattenburg decided to award the visitors a penalty when Lualua fell in the area under a challenge from Federico Fazio.

Play was waved on, however, and any hopes Brighton had of progressing were ended when Kane poked in from close range after Soldado's shot had been saved to secure Tottenham's passage to the last eight.

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino:

"We are in the quarter-finals. All potential trophies are realistic. We are in the League Cup and the Europa League and we are happy.

"It was a good performance. We created a lot of chances and played very well.

"I'm happy for the players because they needed the victory. All players played well."

Brighton manager Sami Hyypia:

"We knew that it was going to be difficult to come here.

"Tottenham are a good team with a lot of good players in their side. If they make some changes it is going to be a good player anyway.

"We were thinking we would be on the defensive side and I'm very happy with the work-rate and the effort the players put on the pitch."