Brighton 1-1 Burnley: Clarets curse goes on for Albion at Amex

Burnley, bloody Burnley. Maybe Brighton are destined to never beat Burnley at the Amex, this latest 1-1 draw extending the Clarets’ unbeaten record in Sussex to an 11th year.

August 2013 was the last time the Albion took three points off Burnley on home soil. And on paper, this 2023 meeting looked Brighton’s best chance of ending that barren run.

There has never been such a gap in class between the two clubs. Whilst the Seagulls could have soared into fifth place with victory, Burnley had beaten only fellow Championship promotion winners Luton Town and Sheffield United all season.

Those two victories combined with a draw against similarly struggling Nottingham Forest provided Burnley with their seven points coming into the game. Make it eight now.

To drop points at home against one relegation threatened side like Burnley can be put down to misfortune. For it to have also happened against Sheffield United and Fulham suggests there is something more. These are the games the Albion have to be winning if they are to maintain a challenge for Europe.

Roberto De Zerbi made no excuses. He told Match of the Day after Brighton 1-1 Burnley: “I’m disappointed with the result – we played a great second half. We were unlucky, but we have to improve.”

“If we didn’t win against Fulham, Sheffield and today against Burnley, then it is a problem in the mentality or the energy. We can become a big team, but maybe we are not yet.”

What would help is if Brighton could keep a clean sheet. 20 Premier League games across this season and the end of last and no shutouts tells its own story. If the Albion do not score two goals per game, they cannot win.

De Zerbi continued his policy of rotating goalkeepers, replacing Jason Steele with Bart Verbruggen. Steele has become one of the boo boys’ favourites in recent weeks, most of whom were strangely quiet when it came to Verbruggen’s efforts to keep out the Burnley opener on the stroke of half time.

Wilson Odobert was allowed to cut inside too easily and although his shot took a deflection off James Milner, Verbruggen should have done better than being beaten at his near post.

Those of us Albion supporters who headed to the concourses early for a red wine and sausage roll were not even aware Burnley had scored; so few Claret fans had made the journey to the Amex for Brighton 1-1 Burnley that there was no audible noise at them taking the lead.

Shock at being told by those who had remained in their seats that the Clarets were ahead was in short supply. It seemed sadly inevitable with each opportunity the Seagulls squandered through the first half.

Pascal Gross headed over and had a low save kept out by the foot of James Trafford. The Clarets goalkeeper then denied Milner, Jan Paul van Hecke was just wide with a header and Mahmoud Dahoud hit a rising shot inches too high.

The second half was much the same in terms of one way traffic. De Zerbi was not messing around and his tactical approach to breaking Burnley down was fascinating.

Carlos Baleba was frequently dropping from midfield between Lewis Dunk and Van Hecke, becoming the Albion’s last man by playing as a sweeper.

At the other end, Brighton had a front five going forward of Simon Adingra, Joao Pedro, Evan Ferguson, Gross and substitute Kaoru Mitoma.

People might have been quick to criticise Burnley for sticking 10 men behind the ball after the break, but they did not really have much choice as they would have otherwise been totally overrun by De Zerbi’s boldness.

The introduction of the Japanese Bullet Train was a necessity as Pedro out wide did not work through the opening 45 minutes; in fact, he looked about as comfortable on the left as Suella Braverman.

Burnley briefly threatened immediately after the restart, forcing Verbruggen into a scrambled yet smart double save which prevented the visitors doubling their advantage.

Mitoma and Adingra began to come to the fore down the flanks in the final 30 minutes. They created a couple of good chances squandered by Ferguson, as well as Mitoma shooting over and Adingra seeing a far post volley saved by Trafford.

Then came the goal which made it Brighton 1-1 Burnley. Gross did a Gross Turn and crossed for Adingra to power home a header in similar style to Jack Hinshelwood’s winner against Brentford in midweek.

The Albion now had 13 minutes plus eight of stoppage time to repeat their come-from-behind victory over the Bees from Wednesday night.

That they were not able to was largely down to Trafford. The England Under 21 international tipped a Gross free kick over the bar, denied Hinshelwood from an Adingra cut back and then saved at full stretch in the last seconds from Mitoma.

It felt like one of those days where Brighton could have been out there for 10 more hours and still not found another way past Trafford.

So disappointing an outcome was this result that the club then cancelled the planned full time light show, blaming strong wind. This seemed even more desperate than Trafford’s timewasting tactics.

Wind of course doesn’t impact light. Drawing 1-1 at home to Burnley in front of a stadium half empty by the time the final whistle goes does.

But then again should we have expected anything else when it comes to the curse of the Clarets at the Amex?