Over 30,000 at the Amex: Photos from Brighton 0-2 Everton
A crowd in excess of 30,000 and just 100 people short of the Amex record attendance were present for Brighton 0-2 Everton with our fan photos proving that this was a very accurate figure as there were no empty seats at all.
Those who crammed into the stadium unfortunately witnessed the Albion’s first defeat of the 2021-22 campaign as a rather flat display saw the Toffees leave Sussex with all three points. It was a far cry from the previous Saturday’s 2-0 win over Watford.
Rafa Benitez outthought Graham Potter, taking advantage of the Brighton manager’s decision to use central midfielders as wing backs by giving Pascal Gross and Jakub Moder a teal test against two out-and-out, quick wingers in Demarai Gray and Andros Townsend.
Gray scored the opening goal on the stroke of half time. Potter introduced Joel Veltman at the break so that the Albion did at least have someone with a vague idea of how to play as a full back on the pitch.
Not that it made much difference. Within nine minutes of his introduction, Veltman brought down Seamus Coleman in the box. Dominic Calvert-Lewin despatched the resulting penalty past Robert Sanchez to sew things up for Everton.
Sanchez was one of the few Brighton players to come away from the game with any credit, making a succession of saves to prevent the Toffees securing an even more dominant win.
It was not a good afternoon off-the-pitch for Brighton, either. A lack of staff meant that food concessions were shut and massive queues built up as the 30,000+ crowd sought £3.20 bags of Starburst to try and distract from the insipid performance happening on the pitch.
Paul Barber released an open letter a couple of days after the match, saying that the club’s priority for the final few days of the transfer window would therefore be to sign more staff to serve pints and sweets. The Albion hope to have them in place for the next home game against Leicester City after the international break.
If you have any photos you would like included our Brighton 0-2 Everton gallery, please e-mail them to wearebrighton@hotmail.co.uk or tweet them to us @wearebrighton
