Five star showing in FA Cup: Middlesbrough 1-5 Brighton photos
The magic of the FA Cup was alive and well at the Riverside Stadium as these fan photos from Middlesbrough 1-5 Brighton are testament to.
Seagulls supporters got to see the River Tees, the Transporter Bridge, experience a chicken parmo inside the ground and watch the Albion score five goals away from home just four days after smashing four past Everton.
Der Kapitan for the day Pascal Gross got the party started before former Brighton striker Chuba Akpom equalised after outjumping Levi Colwill for a header which crept past Jason Steele.
Middlesbrough enjoyed their best spell after that and it needed a strong Steele save from Riley McGree to prevent the hosts taking the lead.
Adam Lallana made it 2-1 just before half time in his final contribution. Lallana was swapped in a pre-planned substitution for Alexis Mac Allister, who duly went onto steal the show in the second half.
The World Cup winner scored an outrageous back heel flick within 15 minutes of his introduction. Mac Allister next added his second and Brighton’s fourth when sweeping home a low Gross cross.
Deniz Undav completed the rout in injury time with a well-taken goal perfectly placed into the bottom corner followed by an emotional celebration.
Undav has not had an easy time of it since arriving from Union Saint-Gilloise and you could see how much scoring meant to both him and his teammates, who surged forward to congratulate the German striker.
It was a complete Albion performance and served as a reminder of how far the Seagulls have come since missing out on promotion to Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium on the final day of the 2015-16 season.
A place in the Premier League, an FA Cup semi final at Wembley, a highest ever finish in English football and selling the most expensive full back in history have all followed over the past seven years.
The next milestone to reach is European football – and it may not be too far away…
If you have any photos you would like included in our Middlesbrough 1-5 Brighton gallery, please e-mail them to wearebrighton@hotmail.co.uk or tweet them to us @wearebrighton
