Match Review: Brighton 1-1 Portsmouth
You know you’ve gone big time when you are fielding two separate teams in two different friendlies in one day. Brighton and Hove Albion’s first game of Tuesday took place against Portsmouth at Lancing.
Unlike the match against Charlton Athletic at the Valley this evening, this one was behind closed doors. There were several very good reasons for this. It gave Maty Ryan a chance to ease back in away from prying eyes after his World Cup exploits with Australia. It meant £15m signing Yves Bissouma could make his first appearance in Albion colours without public scrutiny upon him.
Neither side had to pay the costs associated with using either the Amex or Fratton Park. It also meant no fan website could Photoshop the clubs record buy stood next to a cow’s arse while holding a banjo, as there would be no supporters there to see his succession of horror misses.
So, what do we know from the 1-1 draw against Pompey played in secret? The Argus reported that Bissouma saw plenty of the ball but that his passing was a little off at the start.
That is to be expected as he is still learning about his new team mates. More encouraging was Brian Owen reporting that, “The Mali international produced some great work in the second period to keep possession under pressure and thread a pass between defenders to send Knockaert on a run.” Sounds good, doesn’t it?
Less good sounding was how Pompey took the lead. Nobody needs reminding of how desperately poor the Albion were at conceding goals from set pieces last season. We were at it again in the first friendly, Swiss side St Gallen scoring their goal in the 1-1 draw from a corner.
Well, it happened once more here. The third period – the game was split into 30 minute sections rather than the traditional two halves – was only a minute old when Adam May sent in a corner. It found the free head of Christian Burgess with Brett Pitmann touching the ball past Albion substitute goalkeeper Hugo Keto.
Pittman proved to be a constant menace throughout, hitting the post with a diving header from – you’ve guessed it – another corner. He also hit a free kick just wide of the upright.
The Albion’s best attacking moments appear to have come from out wide. Ezequiel Schelotto hit the post after charging forward from right back and it was from out on the flanks that the equaliser arrived. Tomer Hemed’s performances so far will be pushing up his transfer value and it was his cross from the right that Anthony Knockaert headed home.
There were chances late on for Hemed and Knockaert but neither could convert as the scores finished level. Judging by those who played against Pompey, the side who will take to the field at The Valley this evening looks like it will be slightly stronger, featuring the likes of Bruno, Dale Stephens, Davy Propper, Dale Stephens and Pascal Gross.
That should give us a better indication of where the Albion are at the minute, but as always you can’t read too much into pre-season results. Other than we clearly need to do a lot more work on defending set pieces, still.
