Even when ravaged by injury, this Brighton team will just not lose
It was a windy but dry afternoon to start with on Saturday at St Mary’s according to our BBC Radio Sussex commentary team Johnny Cantor and Warren Aspinall. Soon though, the weather in Southampton was the least of anyone’s concerns.
For when the Brighton starting XI was announced, it showed that the Albion’s injury problems were worsening. Captain Lewis Dunk was missing due to a knee injury and it was confirmed after the game that he will be out until at least the start of 2022.
By the time the final whistle blew, Leandro Trossard had left on a stretcher and Joel Veltman departed after a blow to the face.
Veltman is also one booking away from a suspension. Shane Duffy picked up his fifth yellow at Southampton meaning he misses the next game, either against Spurs depending on their Covid outbreak or Wolves on Wednesday night.
With Adam Webster also ruled out, oh my God, we have no back three! Haydon Roberts may find himself being used. He has looked ready for a Premier League debut.
There are other players who are are capable stepping up, showing the strength Graham Potter has built in his squad. It will be needed, when you also remember the absence of Adam Lallana and Danny Welbeck.
Potter made five changes from West Ham 1-1 Brighton. That point at the London Stadium looks even better a week on than it did at the time, having seen the mighty Chelsea beaten 3-2 by the Hammers on Saturday.
I think the Albion deserve to be commended for playing so well and fighting right to the end against opponents who proved themselves good enough to beat the European Champions.
Similar fight and belief was on display at Southampton. The commentators reported good support at St Mary’s, where apparently there were some 3,000 travelling Albion fans.
A calm first few minutes gave way to a busy period for Robert Sanchez. He made two great saves in the first six minutes. Enoch Mwepu, unfortunately, had a chance that was not to his liking, but it was still early days.
Listening to the radio creates a mental picture in your mind of what is going on. The picture I was given by our commentators after that action packed start, was that a couple of misplaced passes from Sanchez had given Southampton several quick breaks back towards our own goal.
This was worrying and eventually, the inevitable happened. Deep sigh, Southampton went 1-0 ahead. The goal was reported as coming from scrappy play from Brighton, another poor kick from Sanchez being sent back and Armando Broja took advantage to score with 29 minutes played.
Duffy picked up the booking we really needed him to avoid in the 44th minute. It sounded like Duffy was being pulled out of position on many occasions to cover for his teammates who were struggling and eventually, this led to him being dealt a yellow card.
It was only a matter of time I suppose; Duffy is one of those players who puts in 120 percent all the time for the team and that comes with risks.
Only one added minute was needed and I rushed to bung the kettle on the moment the half time whistle sounded. Whilst it boiled, I breathed a sigh of relief that we were only one goal behind at the break.
Another poor clearance from Sanchez kicked off the second half. The commentators were concerned that little seemed to have changed for Brighton and began thinking out loud that Potter needed to do something to influence the game.
The manager’s answer was to bring on Aaron Connolly for Pascal Gross. Tariq Lamptey was substituted a short while later for Solly March as Potter looked to alter the dynamics which, up to this point, had been total control of midfield by Southampton.
A chance came and went for Maupay before Veltman headed straight down the tunnel to be replaced by Jakub Moder. Moder went close but it was not to be as Brighton still struggled to play their possession football.
Even though their usual style was missing, the Albion continued to give their all, believing they could get back into it just as they had done at West Ham.
The commentators mentioned that Southampton began timewasting with quite a while still left to play. Trossard’s injury and treatment meant that significant time would have to be added on at the end, even before the home team’s antics.
It looked like a nasty wrist injury for Trossard and he was carried off with a brace on his right arm. Warren was not impressed with the reaction of the medical team, saying: “The St Johns Ambulance team were so slow, that he could walk backwards faster than that!”
The commentary also revealed that it was Trossard’s birthday. Not a very pleasant present for him to be wheeled away on a stretcher. Let us hope it is not as serious as it first looked.
Brighton were now finishing the game with 10 men, just as they had at West Ham. The fourth official announced a further 10 minutes of injury time to be played, giving the Albion time on their side to keep plugging away.
March and Moder were both working hard to break Southampton down. Then the moment arrived. A free kick taken by Moder just outside Southampton’s penalty area on the left side rebounded off the wall.
Moder chipped the ball at quite some pace past the wall at the second attempt. Neal Maupay was right there, clearly onside when you watch the clip back on the Albion website, and he turned to hit the ball into the corner of the Southampton goal.
With literally minutes left, Brighton had rescued a point with 10 men again. It was breath taking. I mentioned déjà vu last week and yes, once again, our musketeer named Neal – not Athos, Porthos or Aramis – but Neal scored to save the day.
This Brighton team will just not lose. They give it their all. They always do and I am sure always will. It was so lovely to hear and later see the highlights.
The past two matches have made me so proud of our team. Now it is time for the squad to step up and drop into those vacant slots to give the injured parties time to recover.
They can do it, as their fight against West Ham and Southampton has shown. Brighton are the definition of it never being over until the fat lady sings.
