FA Cup draw gives Brighton a cold night in Stoke
If Brighton are to reach Wembley in the FA Cup, then they will have to do it the hard way after being drawn away at Stoke City in the fifth round of the competition.
You may find that a strange opening sentence, seeing as the Albion have already won 5-1 at Championship promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough and then eliminated holders Liverpool from the competition.
On paper at least, a trip to the Bet365 Stadium to face opponents seven points off the relegation zone a division blow looks the easiest game Brighton have faced in the FA Cup so far.
But that does not take into consideration the Seagulls’ woeful record against Stoke. Brighton have beaten the Potters just 11 times in 45 attempts, only twice away from home with the most recent success in Stoke-on-Trent in 1961 and never at the Bet365 Stadium.
The Albion’s most recent win over Stoke came in September 2001 when Paul Watson struck the only goal of the game in front of 6,627 at Withdean Stadium.
Both sides would end that 2001-02 season promoted from the third tier, Brighton as Division Two champions under the management of Peter Taylor and the Potters via the playoffs.
There has been just one previous meeting between Brighton and Stoke in the FA Cup and again it does not hold particularly good memories for Seagulls supporters.
That came in 2011 when Brighton made their first appearance in the fifth round of the competition for 25 years. Having already eliminated higher division clubs Portsmouth and Watford, Gus Poyet He Who Must Not Be Named and a lot of Albion fans thought the League One leaders would go and give Tony Pulis’ agricultural Premier League outfit a footballing lesson.
Needless to say, that was not the case. Rory Delap’s long throws and Stoke’s general set pieces caused utter chaos. The Potters ran out 3-0 winners via headers from John Carew, Jon Walters and Ryan Shawcross on their way to that year’s final, where they went onto lose to Manchester City.
We will find out if Brighton and Roberto De Zerbi can do it on a cold night in Stoke on a date around Wednesday 1st March. The fifth round takes place in midweek due to the lack of available weekends caused by the World Cup.
As a result, there are no replays either which unfortunately denies Albion fans the opportunity of seeing Stoke at the Amex.
If you want to catch the Potters in action, it is the Bet365 Stadium or nothing unfortunately – and you will no doubt be rewarded with a whole five loyalty points for your troubles.
