Brentford 0-1 Brighton: Bloom left beaming as Benham is beaten

The new series of Strictly Come Dancing starts next Saturday and if the BBC have any sense, they will be doing everything in their power to add a very rich man to the show as its 16th celebrity contestant based on his performance in the away end at Brentford 0-1 Brighton.

Quite what you would call the jig danced by Tony Bloom as his Seagulls stung the Bees, I am not sure. It was certainly not an American Smooth. Nor was it a Charleston or a Pasodoble . A Jive perhaps? Bruno Tonioli (if he were still a judge) would have loved the enthusiasm. Craig Revell-Horwood would have hated the gapping.

The only gapping that mattered to Bloom and the rest of the Brighton faithful packed into their tiny corner of the alcohol-free Brentford Community Stadium was the one goal that separated the Albion and Brentford. Who needs beer when you can drink down the sweet, sweet taste of three points provided by a last minute winner?

Bloom was amongst the travelling support because of his fierce rivalry with Bees owner Matthew Benham, who used to work for Bloom before setting up on his own company.

The protégée leaving the master caused so much hatred between the two that Bloom refuses to go in the board room whenever Brighton play Brentford, instead opting to join the fans.

His wild celebrations at the end showed how much getting one over his greatest enemy meant. Brighton were by no means at their best, but they kept themselves in the game defensively and then Leandro Trossard produced a moment of magic when it happened.

You suspect that Bloom will compensate his playing employees with a nice little bonus for picking up three points which to him at least will be seen as the most important of the season.

Like Burnley and Watford last month, this was the sort of game Brighton would have lost last season. In 2020-21, Graham Potter oversaw just four victories over sides around the Albion in the bottom half of the table. None of those came against the four clubs who finished below the Seagulls.

2021-22 is only four games old and already Brighton have beaten three of the opponents you would expect to be in the nether regions of the league ladder this time around.

It took the Albion until the 19th game of last season – the 1-0 win over 1996 Coca Cola Cup runners up The Leeds United in January – to record three victories. This time around, it has happened when you can still happily wear shorts to an away day. The progress is there for all to see.

This was a good day for Potter. After using two central midfielders as wing backs and seeing them rinsed by Everton’s Demarai Gray and Andros Townsend in Brighton 0-2 Everton a fortnight ago, he selected a much more balanced starting XI which included Joel Veltman on the right and new £15 million signing Marc Cucurella on the left.

Cucurella was particularly impressive for a 23-year-old who seemingly does not speak much English making his Premier League debut. On the pitch, he brings the width and pace that this Brighton squad was so obviously lacking. Off it, surely it will not be long until Paul Barber is selling Cucurella wigs at £45 a pop to go with the £65 walk out jacket.

Not only did Potter get his starting XI right to counter the threat posed by Brentford’s own wing backs Sergi Canos and Rico Henry, but just like at Turf Moor it was his substitutions which helped win the game for the Albion.

The Bees had been much the better team for the first 70 or so minutes of Brentford 0-1 Brighton up until the introduction of Alexis Mac Allister in place of a rusty looking Danny Welbeck. With the Argentinian gliding around the pitch, suddenly the Albion were on top.

40 minutes prior to Mac Allister coming on, Adam Webster had limped off clutching his hamstring. Jakub Moder took his place but rather than risk a repeat of Everton by asking Moder to do an unfamiliar defensive job out of position, Potter quickly switched to a 4-4-2 better suiting the personnel he had been forced into using by Webster’s injury. No square pegs in round holes, for once.

It was these two substitutes who combined to set up Trossard for his late winner. Moder found Mac Allister who in turn found Trossard, the Vampire of Genk carrying the ball across the edge of the Brentford box until enough space opened up for him to bend an effort into the far corner of David Raya’s goal. Brentford 0-1 Brighton and no time for the hosts to do anything about it.

Bees fans must have been wondering when the net rippled just how they were about to lose for the first time in the Premier League. They should have been out of sight already, missing three good opportunities that would have made Aaron Connolly blush they were that simple.

Bryan Mbeumo was the chief culprit. His worst attempt came in first half stoppage time when Ivan Toney intercepted a loose Cucurella pass meant for Lewis Dunk, Toney feeding Mbeumo who somehow struck his effort wide of the Albion goal.

Newly capped Spain goalkeeper Robert Sanchez then produced a smart save to deny Vitaly Jenelt as the Bees threw the kitchen sink at attempting to go into the break with a lead which their dominance deserved.

Brighton were restricted to just one sight of goal of their own during the opening 45 minutes. Trossard was the creator, feeding Welbeck making one of his perfectly timed runs from deep only to see his shot easily saved by Raya.

Brentford were frenetic in the pace they played at, never allowing the Albion to settle into their normal passing game. That too played a part in why Brighton finished their stronger; the Bees would have needed to possess super-human powers of endurance and fitness to keep playing at such a speed over the course of the 90 minutes. In the end, they ran out of steam.

Before that happened, the Albion had to weather a further 25 minutes of Brentford dominance at the start of the second half. Mac Allister offered an early warning sign of the problems he could cause when his deflected shot whistled just over the bar shortly after he made his entrance.

0-0 seemed likely at that moment and the Albion would have gone home happy with a point. Based on what we had witnessed over the preceding 89 minutes, Brentford will not be an easy place to come this season.

Ben White and Arsenal have already found that out and the 17 other Premier League sides will face a stern test from Thomas Frank and his players. Trossard though had other ideas and his moment of quality made it Brentford 0-1 Brighton.

Undeserved? Perhaps. Harsh on Brentford? Definitely. The best teams find a way to win matches that they should have been beaten in and that is what we are now seeing from a streetwise, smarter Brighton.

In deserving to win but ending up with nothing, Brentford were simply experiencing the sort of thing that Brighton have gone through on a regular basis since Potter took over – especially during last season’s xG nightmare. It is bloody nice when the boot is on the other foot, isn’t it?

There are many reasons for Albion supporters to be happy right now with the Seagulls soaring into fourth spot in the Premier League. For Bloom, happiness came from beating Benham. Now get him dancing with Oti Mabuse on Strictly…