Bonjour l’Europe: Marseille 2-2 Brighton photos
Oh la la. Brighton said bonjour l’Europe with their first ever Europa League away day, a 2-2 draw against Olympique de Marseille, where a rather good time was had by all judging from the fan photos from the south of France.
The only let down was getting to and from Stade Velodrome; before the game due to an organisational shambles and elongated journey, afterwards because of a two-and-a-half-hour hold back inside the stadium.
Unfortunately, this is often par for the course when following an English team in Europe. Especially when the French and Italian authorities are involved, with the aim seemingly to piss off as many people as possible into losing their rag and causing trouble.
Thankfully, no Brighton fans took the bait even when locked in an underground carpark with no water, toilet facilities or communication as to what was going on.
All of this is the sort of stuff Albion fans will hopefully have to get used to over the coming years through continued qualification for European competitions.
Seagulls supporters have had a taste of the Europa League now and been bitten by the bug. The magnificent setting of the Velodrome, the atmosphere, the opportunity to spend all day drinking in the sun… Marseille away was some trip following the Albion.
It looked in the opening 30 minutes like the football was going to be the thing that ruined it. Brighton seemed strangled by the hostile environment created by the numerous Olympique de Marseille ultra groups.
The Albion could not string more than three passes together, followed by some poor individual errors gifting the hosts two goals in the space of as many minutes. Chancel Mbemba and Jordan Veretout applied the finishes.
A result similar to the weekend’s 6-1 defeat at Aston Villa suddenly seemed plausible. Brighton therefore deserve a lot of credit for the way they came back to take a point, not silencing the Velodrome but certainly making it less raucous.
Pascal Gross swept home a Kaoru Mitoma cross to make it 2-1 on 54 minutes. Joao Pedro then showed nerves of steel to convert an 88th minute penalty in the face of a relentless wall of noise.
Brighton left with a point when an hour earlier they found themselves in a hopeless position. That bodes well for the rest of their Europa League campaign. Roll on Amsterdam in November.
If you have any photos you would like included in our Marseille 2-2 Brighton gallery, please e-mail them to wearebrighton@hotmail.co.uk or tweet them to us @wearebrighton
