Tottenham comfortably beat Brighton 3-1 at home to go to the fifth round of the FA Cup.

 In the build-up to Brighton’s visit, Antonio Conte’s catchphrase was “hope,” and Tottenham still has it in the FA Cup.

While it may not be the foundation for something long-term, as Conte hopes, it isn’t a bad thing in a knockout competition. And it’s more than Brighton had after shooting themselves in the foot in round five by handing Spurs the title.

Brighton got off to a good start by taking the initiative but then got the jitters out of nowhere. They got away with it the first time they did it. They were severely punished after the second.

Spurs were encouraged by a surprising slip from goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. He scuffed an attempted pass to his right while under no duress. But Kane was close behind. The England captain just needed a few seconds to score his first goal.

The ball was subsequently given to Adam Webster, who is typically very dependable in possession. But he couldn’t decide what to do with the ball this time, so he gave it to the fit-again Heung Min-Son.

Kane beat Sanchez with a stunning curling finish from long range after he and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg combined. The previous pattern was maintained, but Spurs’ threat on the break was evident and lasted the entire game.

Emerson Royal scooped up the ball in his own half and surged deep into Brighton territory down the right flank for their second goal. None of his teammates were able to keep up with him, and in normal conditions, Sanchez’s eventual cross would have been ordinary catching practice.

However, it was Solly March’s nick that sent the ball up and over the Brighton goalie before landing precisely in his far corner. That was ruled an own goal by March, and Royal should have had his own soon after from Son’s cut-back.

Brighton’s Neal Maupay and Jakub Moder were both wastefully off target on either side of the break, but their momentum was growing, and their goal came as no surprise.

Lloris had to make a quick adjustment to keep out a deflected effort from Yves Bissouma earlier in the half, but he had no chance after the Mali midfielder’s shot was deflected in off Hojbjerg’s back just after the hour.

Brighton should have pushed for an equalizer at that point, but instead, they conceded a third three minutes later. Son demonstrated his sharpness on his return from injury with a spectacular burst through two Brighton defenders before being held up inside the box by a third, Lewis Dunk.

However, in an attempt to save the situation, Webster could only bundle the ball towards his own goal, where Kane glided in to score his second goal of the night.

The game petered out as Maupay squandered another chance to give Spurs something to worry about, allowing Conte the opportunity to give debuts to his new acquisitions Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur.