Albion pop the Cherries: Brighton 3-1 Bournemouth photos
There was once a time when photos from games between Brighton and Bournemouth involved scenes of abject disappointment… but not so much now as this 3-1 win for the Albion made it three victories in a row over the Cherries.
Not that it looked for much of the first 45 minutes like the Amex would be celebrating three points come full time.
Bournemouth sat back throughout the first half, refused to be drawn into the press and as such the Seagulls struggled to make many inroads.
When Bart Verbruggen then got caught trying to play out from the edge of his box, Dominic Solanke took full advantage by lobbing into an empty net to give the Cherries the lead.
That could and probably should have made Brighton’s task even tougher. All Bournemouth had to do now was defend even more resolutely with a one-goal advantage to protect.
Fortunately for the Albion, a teasing Billy Gilmour cross was headed past his own goalkeeper by Bournemouth defender Milos Kerkez in the second minute of first half injury time.
Roberto De Zerbi then made a double change at the break, introducing the pace of Kaoru Mitoma and Ansu Fati.
Suddenly, Brighton had a different way to break through the mass ranks of red and black shirts. Mitoma needed just 15 seconds to do so, putting the Albion ahead straight from kick off.
That started a much improved second half with victory made safe when Mitoma scored his second of the afternoon via a brilliant glancing header.
The result lifted the Albion up to third in the Premier League with five wins and one defeat from six matches so far.
Mad to think that just four-and-a-half years ago, Brighton were losing 5-0 at home to Bournemouth and staring relegation to the Championship in the face.
If you have any photos you would like included in our Brighton 3-1 Bournemouth gallery, please e-mail them to wearebrighton@hotmail.co.uk or tweet them to us @wearebrighton
