Fulham 2-1 Brighton: No striker, no points as Mitrovic proves the difference

With the transfer window mere days away from closing, Brighton could have done without suffering a 2-1 defeat at Fulham which put the word ‘striker’ back on the lips of every Albion fan.

Having sold Neal Maupay to Everton for £15 million and with no guarantees that Deniz Undav will make the sizable step up from Belgian football to English Premier League, many Seagulls supporters have openly wondered how the club would cope if Danny Welbeck were to be ruled out for a prolonged period of time through the sort of injury that has dogged his career.

Fulham 2-1 Brighton gave us a glimpse into that future and it was not pretty. Graham Potter rested Dat Guy for the trip to Craven Cottage, a decision which few could argue with given Welbeck’s fitness record.

Dat Guy still needs to be carefully managed, even if he looks in better condition than he has at any point over the past 10 years.

It was Potter’s solution for replacing Welbeck that raised causes for concern. Undav is not yet trusted to start. Leandro Trossard therefore led the line as a false nine.

The Vampire of Genk played the role on occasions last season. It tended to work against the Premier League’s better sides in games Brighton were not expected to take anything from.

At Liverpool, Trossard as a false nine helped secure a 2-2 draw. When Manchester City came to the Amex, Potter adopted the tactic at half time with the Albion 3-0 down. The Seagulls were much improved after the break and drew the second half 1-1 with the champions.

It did not however work at home to Newcastle United or away against Aston Villa. Brighton were toothless in those two matches against opponents they had a reasonable hope of claiming three points from.

Fulham away was a fixture very much in the category of Newcastle or Villa. History therefore suggests that Brighton’s best chance of winning – and topping the Premier League for 24 hours – involved naming a recognised striker in the starting XI.

From the first whistle, Brighton were poor. Potter realised quite quickly that both the formation and Trossard up front on his own was not working and he changed things up.

The Albion reverted to a back four and pushed Enock Mwepu further forward. That was an interesting solution to say the least.

Mwepu had played the final 15 minutes of the 1-0 win over The Leeds United at the weekend as a lone striker when Welbeck was withdrawn.

The Computer had looked more like a lost kitten up there rather than an Apple Mac or Windows 11. An extended run as a striker at Craven Cottage only served to confirm suspicions that Mwepu cannot play as a centre forward at this stage in his career.

How or why did Potter get his forward choices so wrong in Fulham 2-1 Brighton? Maybe he was trying to prove a point to Tony Bloom, showing the world and his wife what the Albion look like without Welbeck.

A not-so-subtle way of suggesting that the Seagulls need a striker through the door before the transfer window shuts to play when Dat Guy needs a rest or – heaven forbid – is ruled out.

Or maybe it was the complete opposite? Was Potter trying to silence the chatter about a new centre forward by proving that Brighton could win games by making the most of their existing in-house options, including Trossard and Mwepu?

The Athletic ran a recent interview with Potter where he said he was frustrated about demands to sign a 20-goal striker.

That was a bit of a red herring as every Brighton supporter knows a 20-goal striker is never going to be within the Albion’s budget when the likes of Harry Kane, Mo Salah, Jamie Vardy et all struggle to reach that number.

Albion fans do though wonder if Welbeck with a questionable injury record, unproven Undav and teenager Evan Ferguson are enough to get Brighton through a season as out-and-out striking options. That is a justified question.

If Potter wanted to show the doubters they were wrong by picking up three points from Fulham without a recognised striker, then that has backfired spectacularly. The focus on the Albion’s forward options is now even stronger.

Another factor fuelling the striker debate on the way home from Craven Cottage was the performance of Aleksandar Mitrovic for Fulham.

The Serb proved to be the match winner, highlighting the difference that a quality centre forward can make to a team. Brighton were without Dat Guy, the Cottagers had Mitrovic.

Reverse the roles and have Welbeck leading the Albion line with Mitrovic absent for Fulham and the likelihood is you get a very different result.

There are not many centre forwards in the Premier League who make Lewis Dunk look ordinary. Dunk and the Albion though always struggle when facing Mitrovic, who now has four top flight goals against Brighton. The most he has managed against any opponent.

Mitrovic gave Fulham a deserved lead three minutes into the second half. Mwepu was unable to convincingly clear a Fulham corner, the ball was returned back into the box by Neeskens Kebano and Mitrovic was on hand to slide in at the back post.

Eight minutes later and the Cottagers doubled their advantage with a counter attack goal that came from a Brighton corner.

Pascal Gross delivered and Fulham cleared to the edge of the box to Pervis Estupinan. The Ecuadorian left back had a bit of time but an horrific piece of control saw him surrender possession to Mitrovic.

Estupinan chopped down Mitrovic in an attempt to win the ball back. Fulham were already breaking with debutant referee Thomas Bramall – who was excellent all evening – playing a good advantage.

Less than 10 seconds later and the Cottagers had swept up the other end, Andreas Pereira was crossing into the box and Dunk was beating Robert Sanchez with a quite wonderful own goal slid in from 15 yards out.

Estupinan went some way towards making up for his part in gifting Fulham their second when winning a penalty for the Albion shortly after.

Mr Bramall checked the pitch side monitor after VAR was alerted to a hack in the box thanks to some Estupinan theatrics. Alexis Mac Allister confidently despatched the resulting penalty, an outcome that was not in doubt – for once.

Brighton never miss spot kicks at the Putney Bridge end of Craven Cottage. Unlike when playing at the other 91 grounds in the Football League, where watching a Brighton penalty must be done through fingers over eyes for fears of the inevitable disappointment that will follow.

Three goals in 15 second half minutes was a world away from the turgid first half. Prior to Mac Allister scoring, Brighton’s only half chances had seen Bernd Leno save from Gross and Solly March head wide from a Trossard cross.

Soon after the penalty and Potter made a treble change. Welbeck entered the fray along with Tariq Lamptey and Karou Mitoma. Brighton now had their talisman striker on the pitch and a lot of pace in wide areas.

Mitoma had another lively cameo, the highlight of which was setting up Trossard for a chance well saved by Leno. Undav came on with 12 minutes remaining, receiving his longest amount of game time in the Premier League so far.

It was enough for him to show he will fit right in at the Albion with an early contender for the coveted WAB Miss of the Season Award.

Welbeck flicked a ball through to Undav, who appeared to be at least five yards offside. All the German striker had to do was beat Leno and yet he somehow managed to hit the post instead with a dinked finish.

Had the ball hit the back of the net, then the assistant referee’s flag would surely have gone up. That meant it was not a miss that mattered in the grand scheme of things, but still one that was incredible in the extreme.

Even more incredible was some of the Brighton decision making in the six minutes of injury time added. Instead of getting the ball up the pitch to try and fashion an equaliser, Sanchez and Webster began passing it between them in the Albion’s defensive third.

Dunk soon got in on the act, the result being that Brighton gave away corners, free kicks and throws. It was almost like they did not want to try and level the game.

And maybe that explains everything? No centre forward, no urgency to get forward and snatch a draw… was this a deliberate ploy by Potter to stop himself being linked with the Aston Villa job by deluded Villa fans, who believe winning the European Cup when Maggie Thatcher was in her first term qualifies them as one of the biggest clubs in the country? Clever if so.

Fulham 2-1 Brighton is no disaster. A dampening down of expectations does not do any harm either, even if it reignites a centre forward debate that Potter claims in public not to want.

Who knows what he really thinks in private? And if Fulham 2-1 Brighton does prove to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back in leading Bloom to sanction the signing of a new striker over the next few days, then it might even be a blessing in disguise.