Brighton 1-1 Southampton: Same story against rock bottom Saints

It was interesting to read in the days leading up to Brighton 1-1 Southampton the sheer number of Albion fans who said “Fabian Hurzeler is different” in response to predictions about an inevitable Albion draw or defeat at home to the club bottom of the Premier League.

What exactly was this confidence or belief based on? Brighton had failed to beat Ipswich Town and Wolves already at the Amex. And to a lesser extent, Nottingham Forest.

Three matches you would expect the Albion to win. In contrast to Manchester United, Spurs and Manchester City. All of which were actually won.

Results from Hurzeler’s opening six home matches in charge suggest that, rather than being different, The Youngest Permanent Manager in Premier League History, is struggling with the same issues Glow Up Graham Potter and Roberto De Zerbi had when faced with struggling opponents at home.

Brighton 1-1 Southampton should therefore not have come as a surprise. Team with a grand total of zero points away this season takes their first point at the Amex.

Ending a run of nine consecutive top flight away defeats, their worst such sequence in 50 years. It is a story we have seen play out numerous times over the past six seasons.

And it might have been even worse. Southampton were denied what would have been a second half winner after a lengthy VAR intervention confirmed the assistant was right to raise his flag.

Bart Verbruggen admitted afterwards that Brighton had been fortunate to see the decision go in their favour. Adam Armstrong was deemed to have interfered enough from an offside position despite not touching the ball as Cameron Archer converted.

“I don’t really know why he gave it offside,” said Verbruggen. “I think we got lucky there, I think it was really close.”

That moment would not have appeared so game changing if Brighton had put the game to bed in a first half they dominated. Missed chances though cost the Albion dear, as so often ends up being the case in this type of game.

Kaoru Mitoma almost caught Joe Lumley off his line after Southampton got in a mess attempting to play out from the back. The Japanese Bullet Train’s curling effort was just wide of the post.

Lumley started the season as Saints’ fourth choice goalkeeper. This was his Premier League career debut at the age of 29 having been relegated out of the Championship with Reading last season.

Southampton’s goalkeeper crisis is the sort of issue Brighton should have be taking advantage of. Other clubs with aspirations of finishing in the top four would.

Instead, Georginio Rutter was unable to convert two opportunities in the opening 16 minutes. The second of which crashed into the post. Danny Welbeck then headed a Pervis Estupinan cross wide.

The Albion finally made it onto the scoresheet with 29 minutes played. Tariq Lamptey was a surprise starter in place of the absent Joel Veltman.

Lamptey ended up having one of his really good games, which undoubtedly means another injury is just around the corner.

He delivered a cross from the right wing met by a Mitoma header. It was the first effort on target of the night and defied Lumley to put the Albion ahead.

The goal was met by polite applause all round, as if this were a crowd watching a County Championship game at Hove between Sussex and Derbyshire rather than a Premier League match.

That lack of celebration gave the impression of a home fanbase who had turned up expecting to win. It also fed into a pretty shit atmosphere all round, ironically on the same night Paul Barber OBE wrote in the programme about how good the atmosphere at the Amex had been in the win over Manchester City.

Any expectations of a comfortable Albion win were given a reality check on the hour mark when Flynn Downes made it Brighton 1-1 Southampton.

Brighton were far from convincing defensively. Adam Armstrong had two shots blocked but when the Albion were still unable to clear their lines, Downes drove beyond Verbruggen to level the tie.

This seemed to spark panic amongst Brighton. A concerning reaction from a group of players whose confidence should have been sky high after back-to-back wins over City and Plucky Little Bournemouth.

Downes should have been sent off for a second booking when bringing down a largely anonymous Joao Pedro.

Southampton going down to 10 would probably have made little difference to the outcome if we are being honest, but it still provides a convenient excuse for the Albion’s failure to win the game.

The VAR intervention came next. It lasted four minutes, enough time to sink one of the new cans of Malbec (yes, wine in a can) for sale in the West Upper.

At least the discovery of a half-drinkable drop of red meant this evening was not a total disappointment.

Lewis Dunk, Mats Wieffer and Simon Adingra entered proceedings as Hurzeler decided to shake things up in an attempt to turn the game back in favour of the Albion.

And whilst the changes did end Southampton’s best spell, introducing a centre back and defensive midfielder did unsurprisingly not lead to a glut of chances at the other end for Brighton.

The closest the Albion came to finding a winner was right at the death. Mitoma crossed and Adingra stretched, his sliding effort clipping the wrong side of the post.

It would have been harsh on Saints if Brighton stole victory. The visitors deserved their draw, which is telling of what a frustrating evening this was.

Still, the result was enough to take the Albion second in the Premier League overnight on Friday. The highest position Brighton have ever occupied in the English football pyramid at this stage of a season.

That is some achievement by Hurzeler and this group of players. But just imagine how much better things will look if the Albion start winning games like Southampton at the Amex…