Middlesbrough 1-5 Brighton: Goal per loyalty point in FA Cup magic

Saturday 3rd June 2023 is the date you need for your diary. Because – and we are never known for getting carried away here at WAB – how can anyone stop the Albion advancing all the way to Wembley based on what we saw in Middlesbrough 1-5 Brighton?

The Saudi Sportswashers are gone from the competition at the hands of Massive Club Sheffield Wednesday. One of Chelsea or Manchester City will depart from the third round stage as they meet at the Etihad Stadium.

Jurgen Klopp appears to be having some sort of midlife crisis over FA Cup replays, which with wonderful irony Liverpool now face at Wolves. With Klopp so agitated by the competition, how seriously will he treat it and how long will the holders remain?

Several other Premier League sides were eliminated at the earliest opportunity. And in any case, as Glenn Murray said in his role as a BBC pundit, Brighton have proven again and again that on their day they can beat any side in the country.

A half-friendly draw and there is no reason why the Albion cannot go all the way to the semi finals at least. From there, anything can happen.

We did of course think this about the League Cup, where what should have been a routine game against a side four points above the League One relegation zone ended in Charlton Athletic pulling off an upset on penalties.

Whereas most Premier League managers would brush such a result under the carpet by dismissing the League Cup as unimportant, that night at the Valley seems to have lit a fire under Roberto De Zerbi.

Unprompted in his post Middlesbrough 1-5 Brighton interview, the Albion head coach talked about how he was still disappointed to have missed out on the quarter final spot which should been there for the taking against the Addicks.

De Zerbi’s passion and enthusiasm was there for all to see and sent out a very clear message – he wants to win things with Brighton.

It is a step forward in the mentality provided by Glow Up Graham Potter, who wanted Albion fans to treat every point as some sort of miracle work. “Norwich and Burnley are fantastic teams, real quality, we have to suffer, yada yada yada…”

De Zerbi showed his intent to make an impression on the FA Cup by naming a ridiculously strong side with only four changes from the 4-1 win at Everton. The only real fringe players involved were Jason Steele, Jan Paul van Hecke and at a push, Tariq Lamptey.

Poor Middlesbrough would not have expected to face such quality and in going for a near-full strength side himself, Michael Carrick clearly fancied his side’s chances of an upset if the Albion were below par as at Charlton.

Instead, Brighton 1-5 Middlesbrough just highlighted the gulf between the top half of the Premier League and the top five of the Championship.

It also served as a reminder of the different trajectories both clubs have been on since Middlesbrough pipped Brighton to promotion on the final day of the 2015-16 season.

The Albion needed just eight minutes to take the lead. Evan Ferguson found Solly March breaking into space and when his shot was save one-on–one by Zach Steffen, kapitan for the day Pascal Gross arrived in the box to fire in the rebound.

Gross is now onto seven goals for 2022-23, tying the total number he plundered when Player of the Season in the 2017-18 campaign. Like the finest German Riesling, Der Kaiser is getting better with age.

The source of Middlesbrough’s equaliser on 13 minutes came as something of a surprise. Chuba Akpom ranks as one of the worst Albion loan signings of the Amex Era and yet here he was, scoring to level the tie.

Ryan Giles hung up a cross from the left flank which appeared easy for Levi Colwill to head away. Colwill though was somehow beaten to it by Akpom, whose header crept past former Boro goalkeeper Steele.

The noise levels inside the Riverside ramped up and Brighton had to negotiate a bit of a sticky spell. Steele redeemed himself by tipping over a Riley McGree effort which came about when Matt Crooks outjumped Van Hecke to flick on.

That was the only questionable moment of Van Hecke’s afternoon. The Dutch defender was superb on his first start under De Zerbi, underlining the strength in depth the Albion have at centre back with four quality players now vying for two positions following the switch to 4-2-3-1.

Brighton retook the lead on the half hour mark through Adam Lallana. March crossed, Kaoru Mitoma hit a weird volley into the ground which bounced and looped over Steffen with Lallana heading in from close range.

Having scored one goal in his first two seasons with the Albion, Lallana now has three in seven. What a difference De Zerbi has made to the output of both the veteran number 10 and March.

Middlesbrough were probably quite happy going into half time 2-1 behind and still in the game. Brighton though had an ace up their sleeve as World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister entered the fray in place of Lallana.

Whether it is helping Lionel Messi cement his legacy as the greatest player of all time in Qatar or facing a Championship side in the third round of the FA Cup, Mac Allister always delivers.

He made it 3-1 on the hour mark with a frankly outrageous piece of skill. Lamptey and Ferguson broke forward at pace but Boro were equally quick to get back and reshape.

The home defence must have believed they had done enough to thwart the attack. But nobody could legislate for what Mac Allister did next, diverting a Pervis Estupinan cross past Steffen with a nonchalant backheel flick.

Moises Caicedo was brought down 25 yards out and Mac Allister clipped the post with the resulting free kick. Not that it mattered as Mac Allister soon had his second, popping up in the box to convert a low Gross cross from close range.

If Mac Allister wanted to press his claims to play in a more advanced role for Brighton as he does for Argentina, then a 22 minute brace was a pretty bloody good way of going about it.

Mark that down as another good selection headache for De Zerbi to ponder over with Mac Allister shining as part of the attacking midfield three behind Ferguson and then Danny Welbeck.

The Albion’s fifth goal proved to be the most celebrated of the lot. Deniz Undav has had a hard time of it since arriving from Union Saint-Gilloise in the summer, struggling for minutes and lately with injury.

Lamptey won back possession inside the Boro half, feeding March whose through ball found Undav. There were still several home defenders between Undav and Steffen but he managed to pick out the bottom corner.

Undav was clearly emotional when the ball hit the back of the net and every one of his teammates surged forward to congratulate him, including Steele.

A nitpicker might say that the Albion should have racked up further goals in Middlesbrough 1-5 Brighton. There were certainly more chances which could have been converted.

To score 12 in three away games though is astonishing, especially when you remember that the Seagulls were about to embark on a run of three months without netting at the Amex this time a year ago.

Five goals and a parmo in the away end made up for the paltry five loyalty points on offer. Another glorious day watching De Zerbi’s Albion. All roads lead to Wembley.