No Great Escape – but a still a European tour we won’t forget

It could nearly have been a great escape. Thursday 14th March 2024 saw Brighton give it their all against Roma in an attempt to turn around a 4-0 defeat from the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie, but it proved just a bridge too far.

The Albion beat the famous Italians 1-0 on the night, a result which will hopefully boost confidence in the squad over the remaining 10 games of the Premier League season as we try and qualify for Europe again.

Roberto De Zerbi will not he happy if that does not happen, presuming he stays that is. I do hope he gives us a second full season in charge through 2024-25 and that those rumours of agitation from certain corners turn out to be nothing more than rumours.

As for the now-ended Europa League campaign, well, what a journey. One we will never forget, having taken in AEK Athens, Marseille, Ajax and finally, Roma.

What De Zerbi has done as Brighton head coach is transform the expectations and belief of players and fans. This was obvious from my conversations with fellow Albion supporters on the Seagulls Travel coach from Lindfield to the Roma game.

Everyone I spoke to predicted a Brighton win, albeit most felt it would not be big enough to complete the fairy tale comeback required to move into the last eight of the Europa League.

Chris Carter from Lindfield said: “I am not expecting too much, just an improved performance on last week and Sunday (against Notting Forest) and just to do ourselves justice after last week’s result. I am going to go with 2-0 Brighton.”

Moe optimistic by a single goal was Chris’ son, James, who thought the night would finish with Brighton beating Roma 3-0.

Simon Cartwright from Lindfield believed Brighton could make it through: “I am very optimistic, I think that this evening we are going to see one of the great comebacks of all time. We will win the match 5-1, and then we will win on penalties.”

Like me, Simon is ever the optimist. Another Simon I spoke to – this one from Brighton – in the East Upper said: “I predict 3-0 to Brighton… unfortunately.”

Lastly, Paul who travels to the Amex from Nottingham every game as an East Upper season ticket holder said: “I think we are going to win today. I think it is going to be 2-1.”

“I was hoping we could get away with 1-0 last week but unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. It is the end of the run, but I am just so proud about how far we have got.”

It was a wet evening; not a good night to have left home with only a hooded gilet and not a proper raincoat. Seagulls Travel deserve a mention for doing so well with the extra European fixtures. Hopefully, the team find themselves putting on more next season.

The smell of Piglet’s Pantry pies and fish and chips lent itself to the atmosphere. The East Stand had been prepped with blue and white coloured sheets, to be held aloft when the players came onto the pitch.

This formed an amazing display of colours and the BHAFC initials. The coverage on TNT Sport and fan photos taken from the West Stand opposite looked fantastic; well worth the aching arms I had afterwards from holding up my sheet. I must be getting old.

Also looking fantastic was the fire display as the players entered the pitch and the use of the theme tune from The Great Escape. By kick off, every Brighton fan in the stadium seemed ready to go.

It was reported by the BBC that Ajax fans had consumed 20,000 pints in the city during their visit to Brighton back in October.

This was not the case for Roma, with the pubs apparently being dead quiet. I hope the beer was on sale or return. Even without much beer in them, the Roma contingent in the South Stand made their fair share of noise.

Less impressive were the antics of the visiting players. Referee Mr Felix Zwayer had a poor game in controlling them, with one Brighton fan going so far as to say he had never seen a team cheat so much as Roma.

Any slight touch and one of their players fell to the turf like a sack of King Edwards potatoes. Five yellow cards were issued to Roma, plus one for their head coach Daniele De Rossi. Brighton received just two yellow cards and one for De Zerbi. Still, it was a very passionate game.

Most had been expecting Roma to sit back from the first whistle and defend their four-goal lead. Instead, they went straight on the attack and almost put the tie to bed in the opening minutes.

A loose pass from Simon Adngra fell at the feet of Sardar Azmoun, whose shot sped past Bart Verbruggen’s post. Brighton were not quite out of it yet.

Now the Albion sought the early goals they really needed to turn it into a contest. Pascal Gross placed a beautiful free kick headed clear only as far as Billy Gilmour.

He took aim with time and space but only succeeded in hitting the pie man at the back of the South Stand. It must be so difficult to make a decision in a split-second; still, onto the next attempt and boy, there were plenty of those for Brighton.

Before that though, the Albion had to survive a scare. Azmoun put the ball in the back of the net with an overhead kick, only for Mr Zwayer to spot Jan Paul van Hecke being the victim of a high boot. It was the only thing Mr Zwayer got right all night.

The Albion made it 1-0 on the night with 38 minutes played when Danny Welbeck bent a superb strike into the top corner. Opening the scoring had taken a bit longer than we thought; could the Albion now kick on and climb this massive mountain?

Roma survived until half time without conceding again, followed by De Zerbi freshening things up on 53 minutes with Facundo Buonanotte and Ansu Fati replacing Adam Lallana and Julio Enciso.

Fati did not take long to get involved and Welbeck was inches away from meeting his cross. Had the Albion got a second goal at that point, who knows what would have occurred?

Leonardo Spinazzola weaved his way through and hit the post for Roma. A bullet header from Adingra was saved in cat-like fashion by Roma goalkeeper Mile Svilar, who then stopped a curving, dipping effort from Fati.

By now, Brighton were resigned to their fate. The full time whistle went after five minutes of added time had played out, followed by an embrace between good family friends De Rossi and De Zerbi at full time.

There was a certain element of sadness that the Albion’s European adventure was over, but at the same time we must pinch ourselves to remember how far the players have come. As I heard one supporter say last week, from Rotherham to Rome, whoever would have thought it?

This was Brighton’s dummy run in Europe, a year where we find out how things work and what we need to do better next time.

If our God of Football, Roberto De Zerbi remains, it will surely not be long until we are back.

Tony Noble @Noble1844Tony

Seagulls Best Ever Season Volume 2 charts Brighton’s record breaking 2022-23 campaign through the eyes of Tony Noble, an East Stand Upper season ticket holder at the American Express Stadium. It is available from Waterstones, WHSmith, Amazon Bookstore and all good bookshops as well as the Albion Superstore at the Amex and via this link.