Glenn Murray’s Brighton Century: Part Five
He’s done it. Glenn Murray has become just the second ever player after Tommy Cook to score 100 goals for Brighton and Hove Albion.
Murray’s century came up in 231 appearances made over 10-and-a-half years and two spells with the Albion across three different divisions. He’s scored against 52 different sides, netted three hat-tricks and one four goal haul.
In this five part series, WeAreBrighton.com are going to look back at all one hundred of Murray’s record-breaking goals as the £300,000 signing from Rochdale (and later £3m signing from Plucky Little Bournemouth) became the greatest Seagulls goalscorer in post-war football.
The fifth and final installment looks at every single one of Murray’s top flight goals in an Albion shirt, including the 14 he hit in the 2017-18 season which played a huge part in the club surviving their first season in the Premier League and the six he has so far in 2018-19 which ensured he became only the second ever man after Tommy Cook to score 100 goals for the club.
Murray had endured a frustrating start to life in the Premier League with the Albion. A sending off in a pre-season game with Girona meant he wasn’t particularly match fit for the opening weeks of the campaign and he then missed the game away at Watford and at home to Newcastle United with niggling little knocks. It took nine games of the season for Murray to open his account, taking advantage of some terrible marking from West Ham to head home a Pascal Gross free kick and give the Albion the lead at the London Stadium.
You wait two months of the season for a Murray goal and then two come along in 65 minutes. The veteran striker was bundled over in the box by Pablo Zabaleta before dusting himself down and firing the resulting penalty straight down the middle and just out of reach of Joe Hart’s outstretched foot. That sparked a mass walk out among Hammers fans with their side well beaten 3-0 and secured the Albion’s first top flight win for 34 years.
The Gross and Murray partnership was starting to blossom now and nine days after they’d torn apart West Ham, they linked up again to deny Southampton all three points at the Amex. This time Gross popped up out on the right wing and hung up the perfect cross to the back post where Murray was able to guide the ball into the top corner, just out of the despairing reach of the giant Fraser Forster in the Saints goal.
After 83 previous Brighton goals all scored with either his left, his right or his head, Murray notched goal number 84 with his knee to give the Albion their second away win of the season at Swansea City. Anthony Knockaert sent a cross in from the right which Swans’ defender Federico Fernandez inexplicably ducked out of the way off, leaving Murray to knee the ball past Lukasz Fabianski from close range.
Three goals in 18 minutes either side of half time put Liverpool on easy street at the Amex before Murray gave Brighton a little bit of hope from the penalty spot. Referee Graham Scott seemed to be the only man in the ground who thought Shane Duffy had been illegally challenged from a Gross corner and that gave Murray the chance to net his fifth of the season. It made little difference though as Jurgen Klopp’s side went on to add two more in the final five minutes to inflict a 5-1 defeat on the Albion.
Since his move to Crystal Palace, Murray had become rather adept at scoring against his former clubs. We knew that only too well having seen him score three times in Palace colours and once in Reading colours against us in the six-and-a-half-years he’d spent away from the Albion. Bournemouth were the latest of his ex-clubs to suffer on their New Year’s Day visit the Amex. Gross was the architect, playing a perfectly weighted pass which set Jose Izquierdo away and he unselfishly squared to Murray who took a couple of touches before firing past two defenders on the line to put Brighton 2-1 up. Callum Wilson’s late leveller ensured the spoils were shared.
Another former club and another goal for Murray. This time, arch rivals Crystal Palace were in town for the third round of the FA Cup with Murray’s 87th minute goal proving to be the winner. It was also a little piece of English football history as this was the first domestic game in the country to use VAR with referee Andre Mariner being informed via his earpiece by Neil Swarbrick watching on television that Murray had turned home Uwe Hunemeier’s header across goal with his knee rather than his hand. It was his first FA Cup goal since the first round meeting with Wycombe Wanderers in 2009 and just the third time he’d netted in the competition for the Albion.
Four days before Brighton’s FA Cup Fourth Round clash with Championship side Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium, Murray had been arrested on suspicion of tax evasion. That couldn’t affect the forward though as he climbed off the bench with 20 minutes to play, scoring a last minute winner to win the game 1-0 and prevent the ghastly prospect of a Tuesday night replay with Boro becoming a possibility. Markus Suttner delivered a fantastic whipped cross into the middle of the box where Murray arrived to meet it with a brilliant volley before cupping his hand to his ear to silence the locals who’d been questioning him for his financial affairs. It would be the start of a run of form that put him into serious contention for a place in the England squad.
Murray had the honour of scoring Brighton’s 200th goal in the top flight with his first half penalty in the 1-1 draw away at Southampton. Wesley Hoedt bought down Solly March in the Saints box but it looked a soft decision from referee Mike Dean to award the spot kick – not that Murray was complaining as he sent Alex McCarthy to give the Albion the lead. They retreated after that to man the trenches and try and defend their way to the three points which needless to say backfired as Southampton dominated the remainder of the game, eventually scoring an equaliser through Jack Stephens’ second half free kick.
Just over three months since he opened his Premier League account against West Ham at the London Stadium, it was the Hammers whom he bought up double figures against in another convincing Albion victory. The game was just eight minutes old when Gross spotted a pocket space behind James Collins and he threaded the ball through to find the run of Murray who finished the resulting one-on-one with Adrian neatly. Izquierdo and Gross would add further goals in the second half to complete another miserable experience against the Seagulls for David Moyes’ side.
A brace against struggling Swansea meant that only three Englishmen stood ahead of Murray in the Premier League scoring charts – Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and Jamie Vardy. He scored the opener from the penalty spot with just over a quarter of an hour played having earned the spot kick himself after latching onto Lewis Dunk’s 70 yard hoof up the pitch before out-muscling Fernandez – who was maintaining his fine record of being absolutely shocking against the Albion – and being clumsily fouled by Mike van der Hoorn.
Murray’s second against the Swans was as the result of a brilliant attacking move. Gaetan Bong’s pass forward found Gross and after four intricate passes between him and Izquierdo, the Colombian winger was free to cross low to the back post where Murray was lurking to produce a clinical left footed finish.
Brighton were having a fantastic debut campaign in the Premier League but something was still missing – they were yet to defeat one of the big six. That all changed when Arsenal visited the Amex and the Albion ran out 2-1 winners to heap further pressure on Arsene Wenger. Captain Dunk had already headed his side into the lead after seven minutes and before half an hour had been played, Murray added the second when heading home a Gross cross. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pulled one back on the stroke of half time but there were no further goals in the second half as Brighton secured a famous win.
On his first appearance back at Selhurst Park in a Brighton shirt, Murray scored Brighton’s first of the afternoon when volleying home Dunk’s header from a corner while stood virtually on the goal line. Unfortunately, a woeful start had seen the Albion go 2-0 down inside of the opening 15 minutes. They would wind up on the end of a disappointing 3-2 defeat with Murray’s strike proving to be his last of the campaign, leaving him on 14 for the season.
The start of the 2018-19 season began the race to 100 for Murray. After a substandard showing in the season’s opening game as the Albion lost 2-0 away at Watford, Manchester United visited the Amex on matchday two and were blown away as Brighton stormed into a 3-1 half time lead. Murray opened the scoring with just eight minutes played, producing a brilliantly deft flicked finish from March’s cross which bamboozled David De Gea, arguably the finest goalkeeper in the world.
Brighton looked to be heading for a demoralising home defeat at home to Premier League newcomers Fulham until Murray’s late intervention salvaged a 2-2 draw. The Cottagers led 2-0 with less than half an hour to go through goals from Andre Schurrle and Aleksandar Mitrovic before Murray got his side back in the game, coolly slotting the ball under Marcus Bettinelli after a driving run and pass from Knockaert had played him in.
Murray completed his brace and the comeback from the penalty spot with just six minutes remaining. A March free kick into the box caused chaos and confusion which only ended when Mitrovic inexplicably took the decision to virtually catch the ball as it dropped out of the sky. Having seen Betinelli save a spot kick from Gross in the first half, there was understandable tension around the Amex as Murray stepped up but he kept a calm, bald head to send the Fulham keeper the wrong way and salvage a draw.
For the second game in succession, Brighton gifted a two-goal lead to struggling opponents and for the second game in succession, it took a late Murray penalty to rescue a point, this time away at Southampton. Duffy’s header had started the comeback and it was the Irish defender who was then shoved over in the box by James Ward-Prowse as the game entered stoppage time. Once again the pressure was on but Murray didn’t wilt, smashing the ball straight down the middle to spark mental scenes in the St Mary’s away end.
Another game against West Ham obviously meant another goal for Murray as he drew level with Kit Napier‘s post-war record of 99 goals for the club. Beram Kayal was the architect, firstly winning back possession in midfield and then popping up on the left wing to deliver a brilliant ball in which Murray guided past Fabianski in the West Ham goal and into the back of the net.
100) Brighton 1-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers. 27/10/18. Premier League. Amex Stadium. 30,654
Murray bought up his historic century against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a game that he wasn’t even expected to play in. A week previously he’d been stretchered off while receiving oxygen after a sickening clash of heads away at Newcastle United that left him with concussion. Not only did he make a miraculous recovery to be fit enough to start against Wolves but he also netted the games only goal early in the second half. Knockaert’s volleyed shot looked to be heading out for a throw but Murray was lurking in the right place at the right time as he had for so many of his previous 99 strikes in a Brighton shirt to divert the ball past Rui Patricio for goal number 100. Murray celebrated becoming the Albion’s second goalscoring centurion by doing “the Glenn” for the first time in the Premier League and now stands just 24 goals short of surpassing Tommy Cook’s Albion record. Could he do it? You wouldn’t bet against it.
