Wolves 1-0 Brighton: Don’t shoot, won’t score, exit FA Cup
To watch Brighton exit the FA Cup in a 1-0 defeat at Wolves was to think for a moment that Graham Potter was back in charge of the Albion.
Remember how it used to be on occasions under Glow Up? When you would find yourself screaming “JUST F**KING SHOOT” as the Seagulls passed, passed, passed with the ambition seeming to be recording huge possession percentages rather than doing something radical like putting the ball in the back of the net.
That was how Brighton played against the Old Gold. Jose Sa did not have a testing shot to save all night as the Seagulls failed to do anything meaningful with their 72 percent possession.
Nothing summed up a dire 95 minutes better than the best, most clear cut chance of the game falling to Jason Steele. Yes, as in Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele had the most clear cut chance of the night.
Pushed up for a corner in the final seconds, Steele found himself perfectly placed six yards out with only Sa to beat when the ball landed at his feet from a Carlos Baleba header.
Steele though could only poke the opportunity wide of the post. Still, it gave him the highest xG of any Brighton player in the 1-0 defeat to Wolves of 0.26. Yes, as in in Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele was the most dangerous Seagull attack wise.
It was not just with his lack of clinicalness in front of the Old Gold goal that Steele was central to the story at Molineux.
Whilst you cannot place too much blame on a goalkeeper for not scoring an equaliser, Steele also managed to be responsible for Wolves notching the only goal of the game 93 minutes before his miss at the other end.
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde got away far too easily from a combination of Cameron Peupion and Jan Paul van Hecke to cross into the box.
Steele must have mistakenly covered his gloves in I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! before the game as a routine catch of the delivery slipped through his hands. Mario Lemina could not believe he had been gifted a chance to volley the hosts into the lead.
Defensive sloppiness was a running theme for Brighton throughout their 1-0 defeat to Wolves. Not for the first time, playing a back three did not work for the Albion.
Like continuing to rotate goalkeepers which the world and his wife can see has impacted on the performances of both Steele and Bart Verbruggen, it makes you wonder why De Zerbi perseveres with it?
The normally reliable Van Hecke and Igor Julio were both miles below par. Van Hecke seemed to have taken the buttery spread on Steele’s gloves and lathered the bottom of his boots with it as he was constantly slipping over.
Igor meanwhile needed Steele to bail him out when a terribly short back pass from the Brazilian turned into a lovely through ball for Bellegarde.
Steele though produced a crunching, perfectly timed two-footed tackle any defender would have been pleased with to prevent Bellegarde doubling the advantage.
Just to summarise Steele’s night then: Gifted Wolves the goal as a goalkeeper, brilliant sliding challenge as a defender, missed easy opportunity as a centre forward. Say what you want about Steele, but you cannot deny the entertainment he brings.
Neither wing back seemed comfortable with their brief either. Peupion faced something of a thankless task down the right on his full debut and was hauled after 45 minutes.
Pervis Estupinan on the other flank looked totally lost. His only noteworthy contribution of the evening was attempting an ambitious acrobatic volley at the back post which he completely cocked up when a simple header would have sufficed.
Were there any positives from Wolves 1-0 Brighton? Just a couple. One was Julio Enciso looking lively following his 70th minute introduction as a substitute.
Within seconds, he took a kicking from Pablo Sarabia in a challenge resulting in a yellow card. Enciso was on the end of further rough treatment as he glided past Wolves players with ease, taking each knock to the ground in his stride.
Any worries Enciso might shy away from the physical side of the game after six months out with a meniscus tear were put to bed in his 25 minutes on the pitch at Molineux.
Valentin Barco was the other positive. The £7.8 million signing from Boca Juniors made his first appearance for the Albion as an 80th minute replacement for Igor, impressing in similar style to how Alexis Mac Allister did on his Brighton debut at the same ground four years ago.
Barco displayed some nice touches and delivered a delightful cross fellow substitute Danny Welbeck could not quite head on target.
The Argentinian teenager did enough in his cameo to have Seagulls supporters clamouring for him to be involved in the bread and butter of Premier League football going forward.
De Zerbi had previously said he would be patient with Barco. Whether that plan changes now Kaoru Mitoma is out for the season with a back injury remains to be seen.
Some might also point to elimination from the FA Cup as a positive. Brighton can now fully focus on pushing for a top six finish and going far in the Europa League with less football to worry about.
Had the Albion advanced, De Zerbi would have been charged with juggling his squad for the Europa round of 16 second leg against Roma and the visit of Coventry City in the FA Cup quarter finals played in the space of four days.
Instead, it is now full throttle towards Roma. With an international break to come the following weekend, Brighton will have 16 days off between facing the Giallorossi and travelling to Liverpool in the Premier League.
De Zerbi is unlikely to see exiting the FA Cup as a positive, however. The Albion head coach had not been shy about wanting to banish the demons of last season’s semi final defat to Manchester United.
He has the mentality of wanting to win every competition going and making history by becoming the first Brighton manager to lift a major piece of silverware.
Elimination from the FA Cup in such a meek manner caused in part by having to pick from an injury-ravaged squad will have hurt. It may even leave De Zerbi questioning whether the Albion can match his ambition to compete on multiple fronts.
How many times has De Zerbi used the word ‘ambition’ in the context of ongoing talks over a new contract, whilst Liverpool and Barcelona consider a summer move for his services?
Brighton were not good enough at either end of the pitch to beat Wolves. With a winnable home tie against Championship opposition in the last eight, this has to go down as a missed opportunity. A rare disappointment from the De Zerbi Era so far.
