What a difference a week can make
What a difference a week can make. After Brighton lost 3-0 at Bournemouth last Sunday and Roberto De Zerbi talked about a lack of motivation, it seemed like the campaign was running out of steam.
But then we had the Fans’ Forum where Mr Paul Barber OBE confirmed the club would provide De Zerbi with the necessary resources to excel next season.
The medical team is to be revamped with two new appointments to try and avoid the injury problems which have impacted the squad. There is a pre-season tour of Japan to look forward to this summer, which is sure to be an amazing experience for players and supporters.
And then came a 1-0 win to round things off perfectly against Aston Villa in front of 31,596 fans at the Amex. “If you believe that attendance figure, I am a monkey’s uncle,” as one Brighton supporter wrote on social media.
The game was only moved to the Sunday afternoon at late notice after Villa made it to the semi finals of the Europa Conference. Thank goodness it was not rescheduled for the Monday instead, given all the rain that fell. We got drenched just walking the dog.
I said last week that Brighton needed to heed the words of Sir Winston Churchill to get out of their winless run… keep buggering on.
They certainly did that against Villa as a more experienced team with Adam Webster, Joel Veltman and Danny Welbeck included put heart and soul into every minute.
The pressure was largely on Villa. Three points for them combined with defeat for Spurs would guarantee Champions League football for next season.
Liverpool played their part, beating Tottenham 4-2 but the Albion ensured Villa have to wait a little longer to confirm their top four finish.
The 3,000 visiting fans were in rousing voice. His Royal Highness Prince Williams was not amongst them. He went to the midweek defeat against Olympiacos but is probably not allowed to go to two matches in a week.
By the start of the game, I had eaten all my Albion Jelly Babies and so found myself starting on my fingernails.
I need not have worried. Brighton came out of the blocks fast with Simon Adingra looking dangerous whenever he had the ball.
The Albion took 15 shots, eight of which were on target. The margin of victory would have been even greater had Villa goalkeeper Robin Olsen not been in such very good form.
His best save came from Pascal Gross in first half injury time, meaning the scores were level at 0-0 going into the break.
Villa had hardly threatened at all. I felt one Brighton goal would be enough to win it with the visitors not having enough left in the tank to fight back. They looked very tired after their Thursday night semi final exertions.
Another tremendous ball forward from Adingra put Joao Pedro in on goal, but once again Olsen rescued his side. By this point, the away end had gone very quiet.
Julio Enciso came off the bench to give Villa even more to think about. A powerful shot from Enciso was just a tad too high, flying over the right-hand crossbar.
Brighton finally put the ball in the net when a low cross from Igor Julio was tapped in by Pascal Gross. No flag was raised by the assistant, but unfortunately Stockley Park took a look and ruled the goal out for offside.
It took ages for the check to be completed, which is no good for the blood pressure. Luckily, my GP sits in the West Stand so goes through the same thing at every home game.
Three minutes later and John McGinn tapped one in for Villa. This time, the flag went up straight away. Another VAR check confirmed McGinn was offside, taking the game into the final 10 minutes goalless.
Danny Welbeck looped a header just the wrong side of the post from an Enciso cross, followed by the breakthrough finally arriving with three minutes of normal time to spare.
Adingra ran into the box and Ezri Konsa brought him down. Pedro looked as calm as ever, hoping to make it 11 successful penalties out of 11 this season.
Olsen though continued his impressive game by diving the right way and saving. But the disappointment lasted only a second as Pedro reacted quickest to head the rebound away from Olsen and into the bottom right corner for the winning goal.
Unai Emery walked straight down the tunnel in disgust after shaking hands with De Zerbi at the final whistle. There was acknowledgement of the Villa fans from their manager.
From a Brighton point of view, what a wonderful afternoon the Albion gave us. There may have been many empty seats around the stadium for different reasons; what this reminded us is that when the going gets tough, the Albion tend to get going.
A good week has helped change the mood and there is renewed belief Brighton can still finish in the top 10 with a bit of PMA… positive mental attitude.
Bring on Newcastle United at St James’ Park.
Tony Noble @Noble1844Tony
Seagulls Best Ever Season Volume 2 charts Brighton’s record breaking 2022-23 campaign through the eyes of Tony Noble, an East Stand Upper season ticket holder at the American Express Stadium. It is available from Waterstones, WHSmith, Amazon Bookstore and all good bookshops as well as the Albion Superstore at the Amex and via this link.
