Blue and white Wembley: Brighton 0-0 Man United FA Cup photos
The outcome of the FA Cup semi final between Brighton and Man United may not have been what Albion fans were hoping for, but to look back at photos from Wembley is to see it was another memorable day following the Seagulls.
Over 37,000 fans made the western end of the stadium a sea of blue and white. The atmosphere was at times raucous, especially when Sussex By The Sea was belted out.
On the pitch, Brighton were much more competitive than they had been in their previous FA Cup semi final at Wembley against Manchester City in 2019.
Back then, the Albion were simply there to make up the numbers against Pep Guardiola’s quadruple chasers. This time around, Brighton were the better side and would have progressed had David De Gea not been in such inspired form for United.
Robert Sanchez too made some important saves and with neither goalkeeper beaten after 120 minutes leaving a final score of 0-0, that meant penalties.
The first 12 spot kicks from both sides were perfect. Then Solly March stepped up. Nobody deserves to miss a penalty in sudden death of a FA Cup semi final; for the decisive moment to fall on March was especially cruel.
Not only had March been there once already when blazing over at Charlton Athletic in the Carabao Cup, but he has been arguably Brighton’s Player of the Season. His 2022-23 campaign should not be overshadowed by what happened from 12 yards at Wembley.
Once March missed, Victor Lindelof kept his cool to win it for United. The reaction of the Albion fans afterwards was telling; March had his name sung loud and proud whilst in tears, consoled by his teammates and in a touch of class, United’s Luke Shaw.
Brighton did themselves proud against a club who spent more on a single player in Casemiro than the entire Albion starting XI cost.
A hard defeat to take, but hopefully this is just the start of the Albion becoming regular challengers for Europe and trophies. We will see you again soon, Wembley.
If you have any photos you would like included in our Brighton 0-0 Man United FA Cup semi final gallery, please e-mail them to wearebrighton@hotmail.co.uk or tweet them to us @wearebrighton
