Brighton 0-0 Man United: Football can be a cruel mistress

Football can be a cruel mistress. Brighton were denied a place in the FA Cup final in the lottery of a penalty shootout following a 0-0 draw with Man United at Wembley. What more is there to say?

Well, quite a bit actually. The Albion had 61 percent possession, which was enough for Roberto De Zerbi to claim as deserving of victory.

“Usually in penalties the winner is the one who doesn’t deserve it,” De Zerbi said afterwards. “We made some mistakes in the final pass around the goal area but I’m really pleased with the performance from my players.”

This is Wembley though and there is something about heading to that particular corner of North-West London that Brighton do not like.

Six times now the Albion have played at the most famous stadium in the world and six times they have failed to win, setting an unwanted English football record for most visits without victory.

Someone in blue and white (or NOBO pink) always seems to leave in tears, too. Jimmy Case in 1983. Dean Wilkins in 1991. In 2023, it was Solly March crying on the pitch after becoming the only player out of 14 from both sides to miss his spot kick.

Nobody deserves to go through such an ordeal, but especially not March. Sussex born-and-bred and arguably Brighton’s Player of the Season so far, it is awful that the popular winger will have 2022-23 remembered as much for blazing over the bar as the countless match winning performances he has delivered since De Zerbi took over.

De Zerbi has been pretty much faultless throughout his seven months at the helm so far, but he is not beyond criticism.

March missed the crucial penalty as Brighton were eliminated from the Carabao Cup at Charlton Athletic back in December; should he have been further down the pecking order than seventh this time around?

And then there was the presence of Jason Steele on the bench. Robert Sanchez has saved one penalty in three seasons. Steele kept four out in a single shootout against Newport County in 2021 and saved two at the Valley earlier in the campaign.

It stands to reason that Brighton would have a better chance winning from 12 yards with Steele substituted on. Not to mention the psychological impact introducing a penalty-saving expert can have in getting inside the opposition’s head.

United’s penalties were admittedly flawless and gave Sanchez no chance. Would they have been quite so clinical with a little nagging doubt at the back of their minds given Steele’s impressive record? We will never know.

The other thing to talk about is squad depth. What Brighton 0-0 Man United highlighted is the lack of options available to De Zerbi beyond the starting XI.

Julio Enciso started as a number 10 thanks to injuries to Adam Lallana, Jeremy Sarmiento, Joel Veltman and Tariq Lamptey. Enciso might be a talented young player, but the key word in that sentence is young.

He is raw and inconsistent and not yet ready for regular top flight English football. The sort of time and patience Brighton displayed with the likes of Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo will be needed to get the best out of the Paraguayan teenager.

When Brighton needed to change things off the bench, De Zerbi was restricted in who he could introduce. Danny Welbeck departing injured meant Deniz Undav had to come on and he missed a huge opportunity to win the game before penalties were needed.

For the first time since his January departure, Brighton missed Leandro Trossard. The Albion cannot keep selling players like Trossard and not giving De Zerbi replacements if they want to become regular challengers for Europe and embark on further memorable runs in cup competitions.

A hectic final two months of the campaign has already stretched Brighton’s squad to the limits and there is no respite with nine games to come in the next five weeks.

With Welbeck and Evan Ferguson injury doubts for Wednesday night’s trip to Forest, Undav will probably find himself starting at the City Ground. Not ideal when every match from this point on is a cup final in the quest for the top seven.

Brighton might well have made an actual cup final were it not for David De Gea in the United goal. He made several superb saves, including after only six minutes when pushing away a Mac Allister free kick at full stretch.

Kaoru Mitoma earned that opportunity with a blistering run halted illegally by Antony. That looked to be a good sign, only for both Mitoma and Solly March to cut isolated figures throughout much of Brighton 0-0 Man United.

Erik ten Haag had clearly done his homework and Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Diogo Dalot did what very few full backs have managed this season in keeping the Albion’s two wide men quiet for the most part.

With March and Mitoma struggling to get much joy down the flanks, Brighton were not as dangerous as we have come to expect under De Zerbi.

Enciso flashed a couple of first half efforts wide before United ended the stronger. Sanchez made a good block with his feet from Christian Eriksen and a speculative Antony effort from 40 yards was over the bar.

All the talk on the packed trains out of Brighton Station earlier in the day had been about how there would surely be goals in Brighton against Man United.

The expectations of a game full of attacking excitement were never quite met. It was a cagey affair for the most part, although there were more opportunities from half time onwards.

De Gea denied Enciso in acrobatic style and Welbeck headed over from close range when he should have made De Gea work at the very least.

Just before the end of the 90 and March managed to get himself into the game, firing off a low shot parried away by De Gea. Undav then miscontrolled when teed up by Mitoma for what was the Albion’s best opportunity alongside the header squandered by Welbeck.

Leader of His Majesty’s opposition Marcus Rashford thought he would won it late on for United with a drive which took a deflection off Adam Webster on the way through. Sanchez however reacted brilliantly, flying to his left to turn the ball around the post.

Lewis Dunk – who was absolutely superb all afternoon in a stadium where he should have won many more England caps than the one he possesses – won the toss to decide which end penalties would take place.

And so the circus moved to the western end of Wembley, where 37,000 Brighton fans were gathered. Mac Allister, Pascal Gross, Undav, Pervis Estupinan, Dunk and Webster all converted.

Then came March, whose effort flew over the bar and into the crowd in an eerily similar manner to the costly penalty at Charlton. That gave Victor Lindelof the chance to win it for United, which he duly did.

Heartbreak for Brighton, but the reception the players received afterwards was telling of how appreciated their efforts have been. March’s name was sung loud and proud as he was consoled by his teammates, De Zerbi and United defender Luke Shaw.

It was a touch of class from Shaw to put a temporary halt on celebrating his side’s progression to shake hands with the Albion, ala Glenn Murray when Brighton eliminated Millwall from the quarter finals of the FA Cup on penalties four seasons ago.

Judging by the number of Albion fans looking a little worse for wear by the full time whistle, there will have been some serious hangovers across the Sussex area on Monday morning.

The challenge for De Zerbi now is to ensure his players do not suffer from similar. Brighton have to dust themselves down and go again at Forest, home to Wolves and then when United visit the Amex just 11 days on from the 0-0 at Wembley.

European football is still within their grasp. And whilst nothing can soften the blow of missing out on an FA Cup final in such horrible circumstances, Thursday nights in Kazakhstan next season would help a little, don’t you think?