Brighton 0-0 Forest: Tired Albion suffer penalty heartbreak… again
Well, at least the Albion did not ship seven goals this time. It was instead penalty heartbreak for Brighton as they were eliminated from the quarter finals of the FA Cup via spot kicks after a 0-0 draw with Nottingham Forest.
The sport of football tends to love a redemption story. Which is why I felt pretty confident about the Albion’s chances coming into the tie.
Fate seemed to have set up Brighton to knock out the Tricky Trees eight weeks after Nuno and his surprise packages of the season inflicted a heaviest league defeat in 67 years on the Albion.
And maybe the Seagulls would have extracted their revenge had the international break not taken such a clear toll on the squad.
This is one of the drawbacks seemingly when you mine far flung places of the world for good, young players. And then help them develop into international stars.
Joao Pedro, Pervis Estupinan and Diego Gomez rushed back from South America. Kaoru Mitoma from Asia. Carlos Baleba, Yankubu Minteh and Simon Adingra from Africa.
A combined 78,488 miles according to BBC Sport. Or a third of the way to the moon. No wonder the Albion looked knackered.
That translated into a pretty drab 120 minutes of football. Which was in contrast to the atmosphere at kick off.
No empty seats because of season ticket holders staying away. A Saturday evening kick off. And The Terrace being open for the first time, oiling supporters for seven hours before the game with beer, Jagermeister and £6 doughnuts (six pound doughnuts).
Brighton were arguably the better side over the two hours of open play. Forest rarely threatened, other than when being awarded a second half penalty.
Referee Peter Banks initially believed Mitoma had brought down Elliot Anderson. VAR told the official to take another look. After consulting the pitch side monitor, Mr Banks informed the Amex crowd via the Tanoy system that he had changed his mind.
Cue one of the biggest cheers of the night from the home sections. And Nuno and his coaching team completely losing their minds on the touchline. As seems to be the case every time Forest visit.
Brighton had their best chances in extra time. Matz Sels made a superb save to keep out a powerful header from substitute Gomez.
Pedro then thought he had won it with penalties mere seconds away after bundling home an Adingra cross. Mitoma though was found to be offside in the build up.
And so the right to progress to Wembley for an FA Cup semi final had to be decided from 12 yards. Not one Albion supporter seemed confident; and rightly so based on past experiences.
The Albion were eliminated on penalties from the world’s greatest cup competition by Manchester United two seasons ago with a place in the final up-for-grabs.
That was soul destroying. Four months earlier and a shootout defeat to League One Charlton Athletic was more embarrassing than disappointing.
The penalty shootout which followed Brighton 0-0 Forest was a mixture of all those emotions. A heart breaking way to miss out on an FA Cup semi.
Disappointing at the same time as this represented a real chance for the Albion to make history, with only Manchester City of the European Super League Elite Six left in the competition.
And whilst embarrassing might be a bit strong, the decision making ahead of penalties was questionable. Jack Hinshelwood and Diego Gomez are the two least experienced players in English football in the squad.
Why were they taken so high up the order? Ahead of somebody like Pervis Estupinan, who has captained his country. Hinshelwood and Gomez subsequently took weak efforts repelled by Selz.
A goalkeeper who has now been the Forest hero in fourth round, fifth round and quarter final shootout success against Exeter City, Ipswich Town and the Albion.
The contribution of Selz was in stark contrast to Bart Verbruggen. Just five days after Ajax manager Aad de Mos criticised Verbruggen for his technique when facing penalties, the Albion goalkeeper was unable to save a Forest spot kick.
Neco Williams blazed over but the Tricky Trees converted their other four efforts. Pedro, Brajan Gruda and Lewis Dunk on his return from injury scored for the Albion.
Fabian Hurzeler said afterwards he was to blame for what happened in the shootout: “I take responsibility for the penalties. They are young players and will learn from it.
The big question now is how Brighton react. There is no time to wallow over defeat or the prospect of losing Georginio Rutter for many weeks.
Rutter was in tears as he left the pitch on 75 minutes after injuring an ankle. He was later photographed leaving the Amex in an ambulance.
Adam Webster too was withdrawn with a problem, another blow with him having been a major reason why Brighton are unbeaten in eight.
Aston Villa visit on Wednesday night for a six pointer in the battle for Champions League qualification. It is then the small matter of Crystal Palace on Saturday.
The FA Cup dream might be over for Brighton following the 0-0 draw with Forest. But the top four dream is still alive. Time to concentrate on the league, as the old saying goes…
