Match Review: Brighton 2-1 Frank Lampard’s Derby County

The headlines after Saturday’s FA Cup fifth round clash at the Amex were all about Frank Lampard’s Derby County, Frank Lampard, Frank Lampard Senior watching Frank Lampard’s Derby County and Ashley Cole scoring. Brighton and Hove Albion’s victory seems to have gone completely unnoticed in the Lampard love-in.

That’s been the story of the Albion’s FA Cup run so far really. We’ve sneaked under the radar somewhat to make the final eight with a run of fixtures that haven’t been kind at all. Both Frank Lampard’s Derby and West Bromwich Albion are Championship promotion chasers and it had been a decade since Brighton last beat Plucky Little Bournemouth before our victory at the Vitality Stadium in the third round. A spot in the quarter finals has been well earned, even if few people outside of Sussex seem to have noticed we’ve got there.

Despite not having another fixture for 10 days, Chris Hughton made eight changes from the side that lost 3-1 to Burnley a week ago as he again showed his priority for the season is Premier League survival. There were also a whole host of unfamiliar names among the substitutes, including Jayson Molumby and Leo Ostigard, who sounds like a character from Game of Thrones.

The Rams meanwhile took the highly unusual step of naming what was virtually a full strength team. Lampard’s boldness in that regard wasn’t rewarded however as his side were poor throughout, a reminder for some of the gulf in class between Premier League and Championship that, being only 18 months into our journey as a top flight club, we are still trying to bridge to a degree.

Frank Lampard’s Derby were wasteful in possession with the ball constantly flying out of play and they didn’t seem to have any answer to the pace and trickery or Anthony Knockaert or Alireza Jahanbakhsh other than to bring them down at every opportunity.

Former Albion loan defender Fikayo Tomori could have been sent off in the first half but before flashing his red, referee David Coote went to VAR for a second opinion. The television referee cleared Tomori, ironically whilst the visiting County fans were singing “VAR is f**king shit”.

They’d soon change their tune if they were in the Premier League and their side were being conned out of points by Mo Salah going down in the box like a third-rate prostitute, something that could be stopped by an official having access to a replay of said dive. Judging by this performance, they won’t be coming up anytime soon.

It was Knockaert who opened the scoring, firing home a low powerful drive from a Yves Bissouma cross just past the half hour mark. The French Magician celebrated the goal as if it was the winner in the final which was ridiculously over-the-top but at the same time a reminder of just what a passionate little man he is.

There were also plenty of reminders of the way that Knockaert used to dominate Championship sides. Bar a purple patch earlier in the campaign which culminated in him winning our WeAreBrighton.com September Player of the Month award, Knockaert has struggled with the step up in class that comes with being in the Premier League.

Back playing against lesser quality full backs than those in the top flight, he was a constant menace. Whenever he had the ball, you sensed something would happen and the goal was the least he deserved for a man-of-the-match showing. The trick now of course for Knockaert is to repeat this sort of performance in the league, something he hasn’t really done thus far, but on this showing he should have at least jumped Jahanbakhsh in the pecking order. With Jurgen Locadia hobbling off with a nasty looking ankle injury, that could mean a start away at his former club Leicester City next time out.

Knockaert wasn’t the only player to cause Frank Lampard’s Derby problems, with Yves Bissouma once again highlighting the huge potential he has. Bissouma is like none of the the Albion’s other midfield options; he constantly wants the ball and rather than looking to make a pass as soon as possible, he drives into the heart of the opposition with it, his runs often sparking panic and confusion.

His assist for Knockaert’s goal was a brilliant example of just what those driving runs can do. He then set up Locadia for the Albion’s second by highlighting another weapon in his armoury, his long distance shooting. Sometimes when he hits one, the ball ends up posing more danger to the International Space Station than the opposition goalkeeper, but when Bissouma does get it right, he has one hell of a strike on him.

We saw that in first half stoppage time when his effort from outside the box cannoned off the post, leaving Locadia with the simple task of tapping the rebound into an empty net from a matter of yards.

With performances like this, it’s hard not to get too carried away about just how good Bissouma could be – but we’ve been here before many times. Build a player up too much and you’re only going to be disappointed. That’s why all those saying he should be starting every Premier League game need to get a bit of perspective.

He’s 22-years-old. His defensive game leaves much to be desired, which is why Hughton doesn’t fully trust him yet. And you just have to look at Knockaert to see the cautionary tale in believing a player is going to be a world beater based on what he does against Championship sides. Let’s leave the comparisons to Paul Pogba to one side for now.

Frank Lampard’s Derby set up a nervous last 10 when Cole popped up with his first goal in Rams’ colours. After 80 minutes in which the Albion had been completely dominant, their first mistake at the back was duly punished by England’s best ever left back as he headed a poor Dan Burn clearance past David Button and in for 2-1.

Having blown the previous two 2-0 leads we’ve taken, the atmosphere around the Amex suddenly turned from unwavering confidence that the Albion were heading for the quarter finals for only the fourth time in the club’s history to a sense of “here we go again.”

And we nearly went again. Button dropped the most routine of catches but Harry Wilson could only fire the loose ball wide, Tomori produced a bicycle kick which rather fantastically went out for a throw and Rams’ keeper Kelle Roos came up for the final few set pieces to add to the tension.

The Albion though survived and Wembley is now just one win away. Lampard and Derby may have had all the attention on Saturday, but Brighton won’t be sneaking under the FA Cup radar for much longer.