Lewis Dunk chest back v Leeds wins WAB Flair Moment of 2020-21
74 minutes of Brighton versus 1996 Coca Cola Cup runners up The Leeds United had elapsed when Lewis Dunk produced a piece of skill using his chest which Albion fans will be talking about for years to come.
The Seagulls were leading 1-0 thanks to a Pascal Gross first half penalty in a game from which three points would all but guarantee Premier League safety for another season.
There was much on the line when a dangerous looking Leeds cross came into the box. For a lesser defender, it might have sparked sheer, unadulterated panic.
Not in the Brighton captain though. Despite the tenseness of the situation, Lewis Dunk simply stuck out his chest and diverted the ball in from Leeds straight back into the arms of Robert Sanchez.
It was a cool-as-you-like moment from a man playing at the top of his game. Had Dunk got it wrong, then it would have led to an embarrassing own goal gifting the Peacocks an equaliser in a match Brighton had to win.
Imagine for a second if Virgil van Dijk produces a piece of skill like that. Match of the Day devote an hour of coverage to it, Sky Sports News have it on loop for a week and Liverpool fans spend the next six months constantly tweeting clips with the cringeworthy caption of “yOuR cApTAiN cOulD nEVeR”. Well, Brighton’s can.
That is not to say that Dunk’s chest went unnoticed. Graham Potter – hardly a man to get carried away with public plaudits of individuals – described Dunk as sensational in the aftermath of the victory over Leeds.
Sky meanwhile wrote that Dunk should be going to Euro 2020 (in 2021) as England’s third choice centre back behind Harry Maguire and John Stones. We know how that one turned out, don’t we Gareth?
Not even Danny Welbeck rifling home the eventual winner of WAB Goal of the Season 2020-21 could overshadow Dunk’s piece of outrageous skill.
The greatest accolade of all though for the Lewis Dunk chest against Leeds has just arrived with the news that it was voted as the WAB Flair Moment of 2020-21, earning 44.18 percent of the vote.
In second spot on 22.64 percent came Brighton hitting the woodwork five times in one match. The fixture in question was of course the ludicrous 3-2 defeat to Manchester United back in September 2020 and it set a new Premier League record for the number of times the post and bar had been hit by one club in a single game.
Leandro Trossard was responsible for rattling the frame of the goal on three occasions. Solly March and Adam Webster managed one apiece on an afternoon at the Amex where Brighton were also awarded a penalty only for it to be overturned by VAR, scored a 95th minute equaliser before losing to a 97th minute penalty awarded after the final whistle had blown.
2020-21 has proven to be an excellent season for fans of the Cruyff Turn Gross Turn. Gross has produced his signature move at least once a game since Potter belatedly realised in January that the German is actually quite good at football and started playing him every week.
In amongst all those beautiful turns, one stands out as particularly memorable. It came in the first half of April’s 0-0 draw away at Chelsea when, just inside his own half, Gross produced a Cruyff Turn Gross Turn which took out not one, not two, but three Blues players.
Less that two months later and Chelsea were crowned European Champions. Best on the continent they might be, but they still had no answer to Gross – which is why he finds himself voted into third with 15.25 percent of the vote.
WeAreBrighton.com Brighton Flair Moment of the Season 2020-21 – The Results
Lewis Dunk chest back v Leeds – 44.18%
Hitting the woodwork five times in one game – 22.64%
Gross turn v Chelsea – 15.25
Neal Maupay concedes a penalty after the final whistle – 13.05%
Neal Maupay gets send off after the final whistle – 2.67%
Defending a corner v Leicester FA Cup – 2.20%
Previous Winners: Dan Burn (2020), Glenn Murray (2019), Anthony Knockaert (2018), Blowing the title (2017), Colin Calderwood (2016), Chris O’Grady (2015), Andrea Orlandi (2014), Liam Bridcutt (2013), Vicente (2012), Cristian Baz (2011), Inigo Calderon (2010).
