Ajax 0-2 Brighton: The greatest day in Albion history?
With the hangovers finally subsiding and a sense of normality returning to minds and bodies, time to ask the question – was Ajax 0-2 Brighton the greatest day in Albion history?
It has to be up there. The phrase “A great trip ruined by 90 minutes of football” is one heard very often around these parts as to what supporting Brighton on the road is really like. But not in this case. The 90 minutes of football just rounded off an incredible time in one of Europe’s finest cities.
Whilst most Seagulls fans gathered in Dam Square for a pre-match sing song, everywhere you turned was blue and white. Each delightful little bar down cobbled alleyways and next to canals seemed to have Albion supporters in.
The atmosphere was electric amongst those 3,000 or so with tickets and those who had travelled with little hope of entering the Johan Cruyff Arena but did not want to miss out on the party. Their decision to come ticketless was more than justified as the day turned into a celebration of all things Brighton.
Well have you? #BHAFC pic.twitter.com/9gjVKHCKOT
— Piers Benjamin (@PiersBenjamin) November 10, 2023
There was singing about Palace in the ‘Dam. In one incredible moment, an Albion fan even fell into a canal. Trying to take a shortcut, he seemingly mistook some weeds on the water (not the sort of weed Amsterdam is famous for) for a solid grass bank.
Into the drink he went, before clambering back up the side to much delight. North Stand Chat have retrieved the video of the carnage unfolding and it is no exaggeration to say it represents one of the highlights of the trip.
A video has emerged! https://t.co/mU1lvcVnGo pic.twitter.com/xhPJXBvZqh
— North Stand Chat (@NorthStandChat) November 10, 2023
No mean feat when hours earlier, Brighton had just beaten the four-time European champions and one of the most historic clubs in the world in their own back yard.
Deservedly so too. Chatting to an Ajax fan of more than 30 years in the pub afterwards and he was bemoaning the money and pull of the Premier League for its impact on the rest of Europe.
English clubs hoover up the best talent to the detriment of everyone else – even the players themselves should they not get the playing opportunities available somewhere like the Eredivisie.
He lamented the number of young Dutchmen with potential who have moved to England too early in their career and got lost in the shuffle. Memphis Depay, Donny van de Beek, Elvis Manu… okay, maybe not the last one. But you get the picture.
Brighton though, he said. Brighton are different. Yes, the Albion are richer than any Dutch club, including Ajax. But they are still admired for breaking the mould without spending hundreds of millions to become a top six side.
It would have been rare for an Ajax fan to even know who the Albion were 28 years ago when their side had just won the Champions League and Brighton supporters were about to discover Bill Archer, Greg Stanley and David Bellotti had sold the Goldstone Ground.
Now, here was one singing the praises of the Seagulls. It would have felt surreal even without the pre-game cake and truffles.
We should probably talk about Ajax 0-2 Brighton at some point. What made this result so impressive was the Albion had to overcome a fair amount of adversity to complete their Europa League double.
James Milner lasted just eight minutes. Lewis Dunk limped off injured at half time. Pervis Estupinan followed him only a short while after coming off the bench on his return from a month out.
Forget building a new Fan Zone at the Amex; the Albion might need that money to invest in a bigger treatment room if the injury list gets much longer.
Despite the disruption, Brighton never looked anything less than comfortable through 75 percent of the game. Perhaps even more so than they had on that already famous evening a fortnight ago when beating Ajax by the same scoreline at the Amex.
The opening 15 minutes were a little cagey as the Albion took time to settle. The roof of the Johan Cruyff Arena was shut and Brighton struggled with the occasion and the atmosphere created by home fans, who had been buoyed by back-to-back Eredivisie victories to lift them out of the relegation zone and into 12th.
But once Ajax gifted the Seagulls there opening goal, there was only ever going to be one winner. Silvano Vos passed the ball straight to Simon Adingra, who quickly spotted a gap through which to find the run of Ansu Fati.
The Barcelona number 10 is fast discovering fitness and form, which is bad news for the rest of the Premier League, along with AEK Athens and Marseille in the two remaining Europa League matches.
Fati made no mistake with the opportunity, drilling it clinically beyond Diant Ramaj. Cue absolute bedlam in the away section with bodies and pints flying.
Joao Pedro could have made it Ajax 0-2 Brighton with another Europa League goal, only to blast wastefully over just after Fati had given the Albion the lead. Ramaj then saved from Adingra on the stroke of half time.
Igor, Igor, Igor Julio replaced Dunk at the break, even taking over the captain’s armband. The Brazilian proved colossal in the second half as he and Jan Paul van Hecke got a proper handle on the threat posed by powerful home forward Brian Brobbey.
Pedro fired into the side netting not long after the restart before the second goal duly arrived. It was a brilliant piece of DeZerbiBall, the Albion drawing a press in their own half starting with Igor.
The new skipper duly found Billy Gilmour. Sideways the ball moved to the outstanding Mahmoud Dahoud, who swept a brilliant blind around the corner pass into Fati.
Fati drove forward and with the Ajax defence now not wanting to press, he had all the space he needed to pick out Adingra cutting in from the right. Adingra applied the finish as the ever improving combination between he and Fati again came to the fore.
The hosts were rocked ands Brighton set about finding a third. Pascal Gross nearly scored with an inswinging corner, Fati was denied when about to shoot by a fine last ditch tackle and Kaoru Mitoma blazed over when he should have played square to the unmarked Evan Ferguson.
Ajax came on strong again in the final 15 minutes and the Albion were lucky when Brobbey hit one post and the ball flashed across the line and hit the other post.
A combination of Dutch duo Van Hecke and Joel Vetlman managed to scramble it away before anyone in one of those famous white shirts with the single red stripe down the middle could turn it home.
At that point, Ajax fans probably sensed it was not going to be their night. Still they had chances. Igor made an important challenge on Carlos Borges and Bart Verbruggen kept out a Steven Bergwijn shot as the third Dutchman in the Albion XI recorded his first clean sheet for the club.
Come the full time whistle of Ajax 0-2 Brighton and all you could hear were the Seagulls. A significant lock in afterwards could not dampen the mood and once back in the city centre, it was time for the party to start all over again. For those who had been watching in town, it had seemingly never stopped.
Turns out this Europa League thing is quite good fun. Drawing 2-2 in Marseille was good. This was better. Now Bring on Athens… and then who knows what the new year will hold, with qualification from Group B now a very real possibility for the Albion. What a time to support the Seagulls.
