Match Review: Plucky Little Bournemouth 1-3 Brighton
If you didn’t believe in the magic of the FA Cup before Brighton and Hove Albion’s trip to Plucky Little Bournemouth in the third round of the competition, then you should do now.
The Cherries and Eddie Howe cast a dark shadow over the Albion. What else could explain the Bournemouth Curse, which had seen our hosts not lose a game against the Seagulls in the past 10 meetings stretching back over a decade? Howe himself makes Brighton bend to his will, holding a hoodoo over the heads of those in blue and white with just one defeat in 12 games as a manager against Brighton.
As recently a two weeks ago, the curse was in full evidence as the Albion crashed to a 2-0 defeat at the Vitality Stadium in the Premier League. At 10am on Saturday, another trip along the coast looked about as inviting as a night with Katie Hopkins.
Yet the Bournemouth Curse had no answer to the magic of the FA Cup. The light of this fantastic competition overpowered the darkness of the Curse, a 3-1 victory for the Albion propelling them into round four of the FA Cup for the ninth time in the past 10 seasons. A remarkable record.
The most noticeable aspect of the result was that it highlighted just what a strong squad Chris Hughton has built since promotion to the Premier League 18 months ago. He made eight changes from the side that had drawn 2-2 away at West Ham United three days previously and yet despite selecting what many would consider to be a “second string” lineup, you probably wouldn’t be too disappointed if the same side started against Liverpool on Saturday.
That highlights that there is real competition among the squad with two quality players in every position. Even Jason Steele – third choice goalkeeper and a much-mocked signing by fans of his previous club Sunderland – impressed with two fine saves late on to push away David Brooks’ volley and then keep out Steve Cook’s header.
The smile the Albion’s goalkeeper had on his face after the second of those was like a man who has just turned up to a blind date and been greeted by Ariana Grande, and who could blame him after a torrid couple of years in which he was relegated into League One with both Blackburn Rovers and the Black Cats. Again, the magic of the FA Cup was at work.
Those two opportunities came as part of a strong finish from Bournemouth and they’d begun the game equally well. Jordon Ibe was proving to be a real live wire in fashioning a couple of opportunities, one of which fell to Lys Mousset who produced a hilarious miss when somehow contriving to put the ball over the bar when presented with an open goal six yards out.
That ridiculous moment was punished in the 31st minute by Anthony Knockaert. The winger has been having a tough time of it lately, a dazzling start to the season in which he won our WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month for September award being followed by frustration as his spot in the team was taken by Alireza Jahanbakhsh and then Jose Izquierdo and then Jurgen Locadia.
Knockaert reminded everyone of the quality he possesses though with this goal, picking up a clever back heel from Locadia and drilling it past Artur Boruc, who seemed to have turned up wearing his pyjamas for some reason, for 1-0.
That was the Albion’s first shot on goal and they doubled their lead with their second. Yves Bissouma was invited to come forward with the ball and he was only too happy to do so before unleashing a 30-yard drive which flew into the bottom corner with a little help from Boruc, whose dive was more reminiscent of an uncle break dancing at a wedding than a highly paid professional goalkeeper trying to keep a shot out.
That meant that the Albion’ opening two scorers were a Frenchman and a man who made his name in Ligue 1. There may have been plenty of grumbles about a lunchtime kick off in order for the game to be shown live in France, but perhaps we should request to be broadcast across the Channel every week if this is the affect it has on our Gallic contingent?
Marc Pugh pulled one back with a stunning effort from outside the box just after half time but any hopes of a Bournemouth comeback were extinguished with a Brighton goal from a corner nine minutes later. We’re getting quite good at this set piece thing now. Quite why these highly-paid Premier League managers haven’t worked out that they need to look out for Shane Duffy at the back post remains a mystery, but long may it continue.
This time, Knockaert sent in a deep corner which Duffy headed back across goal, leaving Florin Andone to head home with another brilliant flap from Boruc. The Romanian striker is fast becoming a fan favourite for the passion he brings to the game and he celebrated as if he’d just scored the winner in the final rather than the third round.
Christ knows what he would do if he did notch at Wembley. Hopefully, we’ll find out. With so many lower league sides causing upsets over the course of the weekend, a favourable draw could see the Albion better last season’s run to the quarter finals. Even with the “second string” out, we’ve got a side who can be a match for any top flight team outside of the big six. They’ve beaten the Bournemouth Curse, so suddenly anything seems possible.
Premier League safety probably isn’t that far away, so Hughton could even include a few of his big guns as the competition progresses. Brighton walking out under the arch in May with a shot at lifting the FA Cup for the first time? That really would be magic.
