A third victory in five Premier League away games for Tottenham Hotspur, enabled by a fluke from Cristian Romero and a classic Harry Kane finish. Kane’s strike was his 95th Premier League away goal and it meant he had overtaken Wayne Rooney’s record, 104 games earlier.

“I’m very happy,” said Kane’s manager Antonio Conte. “He is a world-class striker, but he’s starting to understand that the way this team plays, he’ll have chances every game. He’s really enjoying playing his football with us.”

Spurs overcame Brighton & Hove Albion, who have now lost their last six games, scoring just one goal along the grisly way. Spurs didn’t glitter, but they did show a new-found efficiency where old stagers such as Kane – who withstood some rather torrid treatment as Brighton’s frustrations grew – and Son Heung-Min are complemented by new men, from Romero to the livewire that was Rodrigo Bentancur, all shaped in Conte’s bustling but guileful image.

Bereft of confidence and booed off at the end, unhappy and somnambulant Brighton barely mounted a serious assault on Hugo Lloris’ goal. Their midfield looked the part until Romero’s deflected opener, but while their last third timidity cost them at one end, their lumbering defence was prised open whenever Spurs ventured forwards. Their season is petering out into the low tempo of mid-table safety in March.

For all his team’s confusing ability to win at Manchester City and lose at Burnley, not to mention his own galeforce approach to management, Conte has brought stability to selection and he named the same starting XI who succumbed to Cristiano Ronaldo on Saturday.

A  Champions League berth still looks a step too far for Spurs, although Conte is defiantly targeting fourth place. “We’re right to have ambition and we’re right to have that target. We are showing great improvement and that’s good for the present and for the future.”

Brighton’s plummet began at the very moment they seemed to have cracked the top tier.

“We need a reset and we need to clear our heads,” admitted Graham Potter, the Brighton head coach. “When you’re us, you have to be perfect and we’re not at the moment. We certainly tried hard, but we lacked quality and we have to create more. There are bits of everything we need to sort.”

Their strengths still lie in midfield: Leandro Trossard, the impish maverick; Pascal Gross and Yves Bissouma the anchors; Solly March and Alexis Mac Allister the engines. Yet, since servicing Neal Maupay seemed like a distraction at best, they rarely looked a threat: indeed they came closest when Bentancur launched a bizarre 20-yarder towards his own goal to almost surprise Lloris.

Spurs had more grit and more possession and when Lewis Dunk casually played a fifth-minute backpass to Robert Sanchez, who dithered, Kane pounced. Alas for him, in dispossessing the goalkeeper, Kane compromised his angles and rolled the ball wide.

Spurs had more grit and more possession. For creativity, they turned to Son, who had a free role or Dejan Kulusevski, who offered intermittent width. They shuffled ahead when Sergio Reguilon crossed short and low, Son helped it on and Kulusevski shot for gaol. Sanchez had it covered but the ball cannoned off Romero and rolled almost apologetically past the wrong-footed goalkeeper for the Argentine’s first goal in English football.

Subdued Brighton almost gifted Spurs a second before the break when Shane Duffy’s weak header fell to Kulusevski, who charged through on goal, only to be foiled by an alert Sanchez.

Brighton had more vim after the re-start, but when Mac Allister sloppily lost possession, they were two down and their evening was over. Bentancur took it on and split the defence with an expertly judged through ball for Kane, who – as Sanchez paused for thought – slotted home his record-breaker.

Kane’s goal marked a further cooling of Brighton’s already tepid resistance and even Trossard’s passes began to go astray and Marc Cucurella resorted to rough-house after being outfoxed for the umpteenth time by Kulusevski. Even while running down the clock, Spurs created chances: Kane gambolled towards goal until Sanchez saved his bedraggled team from further embarrassment as he repeated the trick with a fine added time stop from Reguilon. For Brighton it could have been worse; for Tottenham, it could hardly have been better.