Brighton 1

  • K. Mitoma 29'

Southampton 1

F. Downes 59'


Officials


  • Referee: Rob Jones
  • Assistants: Neil Davies, Nick Hopton
  • Fourth official: John Busby
  • VAR: Jarred Gillett
  • Assistant VAR: Stuart Burt

Premier League


  • American Express Stadium - 8pm
  • Attendance: 31,542

    Intro

    Intro & Team News

    IBO Reporter: channonite

    Embed from Getty Images

    Cameron Archer thought he had scored what would have been the winning goal, but it was not to be - thanks to VAR


    Intro


    |After the dramas of the Liverpool home game last week, where Saints actually scored two goals but still ended up losing, perhaps we might see more than a point this week? Probably a bit overambitious, given what a good season Brighton are having so far. Indeed, if they were to win they could go second in the table.

    I am finding this season really frustrating. We knew it was going to be a struggle, but right from the very first match at Newcastle we have not got the points return that we could have expected, but that tends to be what happens when you are struggling.



    Team News


    |We knew that there would be no Lallana, following his injury against Liverpool. What was a complete surprise was to find out that McCarthy was also injured and our only fit keeper was Joe Lumley, so he would be in goal.

    Also out was Paul Onuachu, although we are told that there is a chance he will be fit enough for the home game against Chelsea next Wednesday.

    There was a general rejigging of the team with a back four/five of Sugawara, Harwood-Bellis, Stephens, Walker-Peters, and Manning. The midfield would start with Downes, Fernandes and when his defending duties allowed - Manning.

    The midfield/wide players were to be Dibling and Armstrong, with Archer the sole striker


    Match Report


    Match Report


    Embed from Getty Images

    Flynn Downes scores his first Premier League goal for Saints


    Report

    IBO Reporter: channonite

    |It’s fair to say that I was nervous about this match, with a 29-year-old keeper making his Premier League debut and to begin with, it looked as though his teammates in front of him had the same thought, as it was one clanger after another.

    The first notable one was when a long raking pass from Brighton’s defence eluded Sugawara, and before you could blink, Mitoma had the ball and was through on goal with only the rookie keeper to beat. Fortunately, the nippy Japanese put the ball wide, partly through Lumley rushing across goal narrowing the angle.

    Lumley continued to be kept busy, and next to threaten the goal was Rutter, who ran across the area and sent a left-footed shot just wide of the near post.

    That warning was not heeded, and a short time later, Rutter’s next shot actually hit the far post, with Lumley well beaten. A big let-off.

    It was one chance after another for Brighton, and next up was a header from Welbeck, which only just looped over the bar. It just felt that a goal was coming. The law of averages suggested that sooner, or later Brighton would make one of these count.

    Which is what happened. It turned out to be a really simple goal when a long raking pass from Lamptey found Mitoma, who had got goalside of his compatriot, Sugawara, and headed in, giving Lumley no chance. ⚽️ 1-0, and not quite half an hour gone.

    Having gone a goal down, Saints then seemed to settle and played some quick, sharp football, which almost led to an equaliser when an excellent, accurate cross from Sugawara found Archer right in front of the goal. Instead of an easy tap-in, he somehow managed to screw it wide of the near post. It just looked like a lack of confidence.

    That was the sum total of the action in the first half, which some fans have characterised as Saints being “rubbish”, which I don’t actually agree with. There were a couple of individual mistakes from Sugawara, one of which led to the goal, but they were put under a lot of pressure from a very skilful and confident side who are riding high in the Premier League at the moment.

    The worry for the second half was that Downes had been booked early on for a fairly “robust” challenge, and the Brighton manager Fabian Hürzeler was waving imaginary yellow cards in Downes’ direction every time he challenged for the ball. You worried that at some point in the second half, the referee might fall for this. Downes will miss the Chelsea game next week, as it was his fifth booking of the season. Still, Saints had got to the break only having conceded the one goal, so there was all to play for in the second half.

    Not long after the start of the second half, Harwood-Bellis got booked for a silly challenge on Mitoma when he just stepped, shoulder-first, in front of the Brighton player, and that means that he will also miss the Chelsea game, as it was his fifth booking of the season.

    One of the noticeable things as time ticked by was how confident and assured Lumley looked. Not what I was expecting at all. This in turn seemed to settle the defenders and when O’Riley brought the ball down for a shot at goal, he was quickly closed down, so much so that when he did get a shot away, Lumley was ready and easily caught it.

    Saints were now coming into the game more and more. The architect of a lot of this was the mercurial Dibling. However many Brighton players tried to stop him, he still came out with the ball at his feet. When the equaliser eventually came, it was in no small part due to Dibling’s vision and persistence. In the style of commentary for Saints’ greatest team goal ever, which ended with Mick Channon hammering home against Liverpool - You know the one! - Downes > Fernandes > Dibling > Armstrong (deflected shot) > Manning > Armstrong |(deflected shot - again) > Downes - GOAL! And the crowd go mad. Well, the Saints fans did, and me at home... some would say that was a scrappy goal, but they can just feck right off. ⚽️ 1-1.

    Shortly after the goal, Martin sensibly took off Downes (before his combative style got him sent off) and Sugawara. On in their stead came Aribo and Fraser. Both were sensible moves.

    Now we come to the really contentious moment of the game. It started with a typical mesmerising bit of play from Dibling as he sidestepped tackles left and right, finally sending a slide-rule pass to Fraser, all on his own high up the pitch on the left wing. With Armstrong and Archer bearing down on goal, Fraser sent a lovely low cross just out of the keeper’s reach. It went behind Armstrong, who was clearly offside, and Archer just guided the ball into the net. 1-2! Wait, VAR! 🙄 There then followed almost five minutes of indecision and confusion. As far as I can make out, the sequence of events after Archer netted was that the referee gave the goal, but the assistant flagged Archer for offside. VAR then spent some time before confirming that Archer was onside. More delay as they looked at Armstrong, who, although offside on the far side of the goal, had the ball go behind him. Over and over again, we saw the replay of the ball going behind the Saints No.9. No, he hadn’t made contact with the ball, so what was the issue now?! Finally, finally, Rob Jones indicated no goal. Later, we heard the official explanation was that Armstrong was interfering with play from an offside position. Absolutely ridiculous. The Premier League implementation of VAR is bringing the game into disrepute.

    So, the game continued with the score still 1-1. Leading up to the non-goal, Saints were playing with a swagger and purpose, but now they looked deflated. For a few minutes, Brighton were all over Saints, but gradually, the away side came back into the game. Dibling and Fraser were the standout players now, with the Wee Scot back to what we saw so many times last season.

    As the final few minutes ticked away, Archer and Armstrong were replaced by Sulemana and Brereton Díaz

    I can’t remember much of those last few minutes as I was feeling sick, furious and outraged in equal measure. I do vaguely remember Dibling getting booked in the 12th minute of 10 minutes added time! That was his fifth booking of the season, and he will also miss the Chelsea game on Wednesday evening.

    In normal times, I would feel happy at an away point, but this felt like a slap in the face. Football can be a really cruel game.


    Man of the Match


    There were several candidates for this, notably Tyler Dibling, who once again caught my eye, but I am going to go for someone who, looking back over the report, I can see that I haven’t even mentioned. A player who is consistently criticised by fans (including me at times) as not being up to Premier League standards and a bit of a liability. Today, though, Jack Stephens was a rock at the heart of the defence and was vocal throughout, encouraging and organising his teammates.

    Teams/Stats


    Teams



    Brighton

    Manager: Fabian Hürzeler


    • 1, B. Verbruggen
    • 30, P. Estupiñán
    • 3, Igor Julio
    • 29, J. van Hecke
    • 2, T. Lamptey, (L. Dunk 72’)
    • 22, K. Mitoma
    • 26, Y. Ayari
    • 33, M. O'Riley, 🟨 16’, (M. Wieffer 72’, 🟨 90’+8)
    • 14, G. Rutter, (Y. Minteh 88’)
    • 9, João Pedro, (S. Adingra 72’)
    • 18, D. Welbeck (c), (E. Ferguson 79’)

    Substitutes

    • 11, S. Adingra
    • 5, L. Dunk
    • 10, J. Enciso
    • 28, E. Ferguson
    • 44, R. McConville
    • 17, Y. Minteh
    • 53, J. Slater
    • 23, J. Steele
    • 27, M. Wieffer

    Southampton

    Manager: Russell Martin


    • 13, J. Lumley
    • 2, K. Walker-Peters, 🟨 31’
    • 5, J. Stephens (c)
    • 6, T. Harwood-Bellis 🟨 55'
    • 3, R. Manning
    • 16, Y. Sugawara, (R. Fraser 66’)
    • 9, A. Armstrong, (B. Brereton 92’)
    • 18, Mateus Fernandes
    • 4, F. Downes 🟨 12', (J. Aribo 66’)
    • 33, T. Dibling 🟨 90'+12
    • 19, C. Archer, (K. Sulemana 88’)

    Substitutes

    • 27, S. Amo-Ameyaw
    • 7, J. Aribo
    • 14, J. Bree
    • 17, B. Brereton Díaz
    • 12, R. Edwards
    • 24, R. Fraser
    • 1, A. McCarthy
    • 20, K. Sulemana
    • 15, N. Wood

    Match Stats


    Overall Possession
    Brighton 52.3% - Southampton 47.7%

    • Shots:
      • Brighton 22 - Southampton 10
    • Shots on target:
      • Brighton 5 - Southampton 2
    • Shots off target:
      • Brighton 10 - Southampton 2
    • Blocked shots:
      • Brighton 7 - Southampton 6
    • Total touches in the box:
      • Brighton 44 - Southampton 21
    • Goalkeeper saves:
      • Brighton 1 - Southampton 4
    • Fouls:
      • Brighton 20 - Southampton 16
    • Corners:
      • Brighton 7 - Southampton 6
    Embed from Getty Images

    Ryan Fraser was the player we remember from last season (at last!)

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