Albion shine in Steel City: Sheffield United 2-5 Brighton photos
Another away day in the FA Cup, another set of fantastic Albion fan photos – this time from the seven-goal thriller that was Sheffield United 2-5 Brighton.
Aside from a funny five minutes of defending on the stroke of half time, Brighton were superb in easily swatting aside a fellow Premier League club.
If Roberto De Zerbi keeps taking the FA Cup this seriously and the Albion maintain the performance levels shown in the competition so far, then there is no reason why Brighton cannot at least emulate last season’s run to the semi finals.
Facundo Buonanotte got the party started with quite possibly the best goal scored in the FA Cup so far this season.
Cutting in from the left, he created a little bit of space before picking out the top corner from a full 20 yards.
When Joao Pedro then doubled the advantage from the penalty spot, the Albion were cruising. The starts showed 83 percent possession to Brighton in a display of total domination.
And then it all went momentarily wrong. Bart Verbruggen pushed a cross he should have held straight to Gustavo Hamer, who returned the ball into the now empty net.
When Adam Webster then lost William Osula to allow the Blades forward a free header, the sides were into the break unexpectedly level.
In a way, this could be seen as good news for Brighton. The Albion’s poor defensive record may put Liverpool off approaching Roberto De Zerbi to take over at Anfield in the summer. Were Verbruggen and Webster actually partaking in a cunning plan with their mistakes?
Normal service was resumed in the second half. Pedro converted another penalty and then completed his hat-trick with a delightful touch and finish from outside the box.
In a lengthy period of injury time, Danny Welbeck added a fifth to put the icing on the cake.
After beating Stoke 4-2 in the previous round, Brighton have now plundered nine goals in two FA Cup matches.
Right now, they are the great entertainers of the competition. Will it be enough to take them back to Wembley?
If you have any photos you would like included in our Sheffield United 2-5 Brighton gallery, please e-mail them to wearebrighton@hotmail.co.uk or tweet them to us @wearebrighton
