Pervis Estupinan is getting back to his best.
His second-half contribution in Brighton & Hove Albion’s 3-2 comeback win against Tottenham at the Amex Stadium on Sunday was a clear indication of a return to peak fitness and sharpness after a lengthy battle with injury.
When Brighton were 2-0 down, it was telling that head coach Fabian Hurzeler decided to bring the Ecuador left-back on at half-time, at the expense of summer signing Ferdi Kadioglu.
The way Estupinan performed showed that Kadioglu has a fight on his hands to shift the established first choice on the left side of Brighton’s defence. The power and energy of Estupinan were indicative of how Hurzeler’s side upped their intensity to transform the match.
Graham Potter, Brighton’s head coach when Estupinan signed from Spanish side Villarreal in July 2022, said in his pundit’s role on BBC’s Match Of The Day 2 on Sunday night: “He brings a physicality. He can match Tottenham’s physicality. In the first half, you found often the full-back (Kadioglu) was having problems two-v-one, overloading.
“I think he (Estupinan) just gets on the front foot. He is able to match their intensity. And then he has got that left foot.”
The South American’s passes to Kaoru Mitoma led to the Japan left-winger setting up Brighton’s first and second goals against Tottenham for Yankuba Minteh and Georginio Rutter — the kind of link-up play between Estupinan and Mitoma that was instrumental in Brighton finishing sixth in 2022-23.
Estupinan’s influence against Tottenham in and out of possession was illustrated by match stats from fbref.com. He made four tackles, a figure exceeded in the game only by Spurs’ left-back Destiny Udogie (five), but he played the full 90 minutes. With the ball, Estupinan completed 20 passes, on average the fourth-highest number by a Brighton player when taking into account minutes played.
It was the second season in a row that Spurs were damaged by Estupinan’s arrival on the pitch as a substitute at the Amex. He came on for the second half of Brighton’s 4-2 victory there last December — on that occasion in place of the injured Igor Julio. Estupinan marked his comeback from seven weeks out with a muscle injury with a stunning goal from 25 yards which doubled the lead for Roberto De Zerbi’s side.
What a goal from Pervis Estupinan!
The Ecuador international rifles home Brighton’s third on his comeback from injury.#BHAFC | #THFC | #BHATOT
🎥 @primevideosport pic.twitter.com/eiUAogGgor
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) December 28, 2023
That was a rare personal highlight in a season beset by the unfamiliar experience of lengthy lay-offs due to injury.
The 26-year-old made 53 appearances for club and country in both 2021-22 and 2022-23. That figure fell to just 32 last season. Over three months from the end of last September, Estupinan saw just 12 minutes of first-team game action, in an aborted second-half comeback as a substitute against Ajax in the Europa League’s group stage, because of muscle injuries.
Then in April, an ankle injury away against Burnley required surgery, ruling Estupinan out of the summer’s Copa America and the start of the current club season. He then struggled in his first two league starts of 2024-25 last month against Nottingham Forest (2-2) and Chelsea (lost 4-2).
Hurzeler reshuffled the defence against Tottenham, moving the versatile Kadioglu from the right-back role he played away against Chelsea the previous weekend to left-back — his main position at former club Fenerbahce — in place of Estupinan.
Kadioglu is also getting up to speed after a minor thigh injury suffered in training initially delayed his involvement by two weeks. The 25-year-old Turkey international had a tough time against Spurs’ right-sided trio — Pedro Porro, Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson — before he was replaced at half-time.
Hurzeler said in his post-match press conference: “The way Pervis played was the Pervis I saw one year ago, before his injury. He put in a great performance. He played with energy, intensity, quality. When he is like this he is a very important player for us, but you need to give him time. He is coming out of a long injury, a bad injury. He played so many games before this injury.
“Now it is about us taking care of him. It’s the same for Ferdi. He’s had a tough start. It is not so easy to adapt to the Premier League for young players and new players. It’s our responsibility to give them the environment where they can adapt and where they can improve.”
Estupinan helped change the game against Spurs (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Natural left-back competition for Estupinan was lacking until the signing of Kadioglu. Hurzeler experimented with Carlos Baleba there during pre-season. Jack Hinshelwood — who was Baleba’s midfield partner against Tottenham — filled the position for the first four league games.
Having Estupinan back to peak condition, with Kadioglu snapping at his heels and Mitoma continuing to cause havoc in the final third of the pitch, is a comforting cocktail of options on the left for Hurzeler.
Estupinan also provides an added dimension to Hurzeler’s tactical choices if the German switches from the back four he has deployed so far at Brighton to the back three he mainly used in steering St Pauli to the title in the Bundesliga’s second tier last season. He was certainly effective in a back three under De Zerbi in the second half of a goalless draw against West Ham in January.
Half-time replacement Estupinan did as much as anyone to alter the narrative of the game against Tottenham.
It lays a foundation for his re-emergence as a key member of the squad.
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(Top photo: Alex Pantling via Getty Images)
