Pascal Gross confusing Fred wins Brighton Flair Moment of 2021-22
The Gross Turn is a thing of beauty, we all know that. But what happens when Kaiser Pascal of Brighton produces a Double Gross Turn followed by a backheel down the line to completely bamboozle Manchester United’s £47 million Brazilian midfielder Fred?
Performance art that belongs in the Louvre rather than the Amex Stadium is the answer. And a piece of skill worthy of being voted Brighton Flair Moment of the 2021-22 season.
The game was in the 88th minute and had been long decided in the Albion’s favour after they sauntered into a 4-0 lead inside of an hour when Gross produced his moment of magic.
First, Gross committed the footballing crime of smashing a free kick taken from in front of West Stand straight into a one-man wall.
No bother, the ball came straight back to him. As Fred tried to close Gross down, he produced Gross Turn number one to head towards the North Stand followed by a huge “HOORAY” from the home crowd.
A couple of paces later and Pascal busted out another Gross Turn to get away from Fred and head back towards the South Stand… cue another “HOORAY” from Brighton fans.
Fred by now looked like a dog chasing a balloon. Gross completed the humiliation with a backheel to release Marc Cucurella into acres of space down the left flank.
All Fred could do was stand there, hands on hips like a bloke whose been just been locked out his house by his wife. Glorious.
No this is…. pic.twitter.com/JmuLFQwMwS
— Gary (@garyeoinhand) May 7, 2022
Gross winning Flair Moment of the Season provides the 4-0 win over United with his second victory in the WAB End of Season Awards.
It was earlier revealed to have been a landslide winner of Memorable Moment of the Season, securing nearly 80 percent of the vote.
Also involved in two different award categories is the 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace in September. Neal Maupay won Last Minute Goal of the Season for his 95th minute equaliser which rescued an underserved share of the spoils for the Albion.
And it is Maupay’s antics in the immediate aftermath of his effort beating Vicente Guaita that earn second place in Flair Moment of the Season.
Maupay has always been one for being a total shithouse when it comes to celebrating goals. Even by his high standards, what we witnessed at Selhurst Park was utterly fantastic.
No sooner had the ball crashed into the back of the net than Maupay was running around like a complete lunatic, cupping his ears to the Palace Family Stand and Disabled Area.
To make the whole sequence even better, Wilfried Zaha threw a right tantrum and complained to the referee about Maupay – despite Zaha having cupped his ears to the Brighton section when giving Palace their first half lead. Poor, ickle Wilf. He can give it but he cannot take it.
There is going ballistic at scoring a goal, and then there is going ballistic to wind up a section of the crowd full of children. Please never change, Monsieur Maupay.
Palace away also provides the third best Flair Moment of the campaign. Namely, Robert Sanchez losing his mind at full time as Albion players went out of their way to bait Selhurst.
Whilst Maupay’s antics were totally in character, what made Sanchez going berserk so good is that it came completely out of the blue.
In nine months as Brighton number one, Sanchez had barely shown an ounce of emotion. Every save no matter how good or Albion win no matter how impressive was greeted with a blank expression.
It seemed like nothing could faze or get under his skin. He was ice cool. That was until the final whistle blew seconds after Maupay’s equaliser against Palace.
Over the next five or so minutes, Sanchez managed to get booked despite the game having finished for getting involved with several Eagles players.
He then started goading the Holmesdale End as he made his way off the pitch, having to be led away before he could start fighting Palace fans. This in turn sparked a mass brawl in the tunnel.
What the hell happened to Sanchez? All we know is it was flair.
WeAreBrighton.com Flair Moment of the Season 2021-22 – The Results
- Double Gross bamboozles Fred – 57.55%
- Neal Maupay celebrates v Crystal Palace – 19.84%
- Robert Sanchez tries to fight the Holmesdale End – 11.90%
- Lewis Dunk in goal v Newcastle – 6.87%
- Robert Sanchez decapitates Luis Diaz – 3.35%
- Robert Sanchez and Shane Duffy have a fight – 1.98%
Previous Winners: Lewis Dunk (2021), 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).
