From four home defeats in a row to the best league finish in history – Where did it all go right?
When Neal Maupay’s missed penalty meant that Brighton had to settle for a goalless draw against bottom of the table Norwich, it seemed that Graham Potter’s time in charge of The Seagulls had entered uneasy tides.
That result marked his side’s fifth home game on the spin without scoring and the seventh game in a row without winning.
Despite the result breaking a spell of six consecutive defeats it looked as if the season was sliding into mediocrity.
In their next game away at Arsenal online bookmakers such as Unibet, who offer free offers on Premier League football, correctly made the visitors heavy underdogs.
But as they say, the rest is history. What a difference six weeks makes.
The turnaround
When Potter took his side to the Emirates at the start of April, punters will have thought that a home win was an absolute banker.
The hosts had won six of their last eight and were looking poised for a first return to the Champions League since the days of Arsene Wenger.
The visitors had been on a dire run of form and something had to change. In came the unheralded Moises Caicedo, who had been on loan in Belgium until January and then languishing on the bench at the Amex ever since.
But the central midfielder’s all-action display led the way. He assisted Enock Mwepu’s winner just after the hour mark and has been a staple in the Brighton first team ever since.
It seemed that that result spurred the South Coast side on. A week later, North London was conquered once and for all, after Leandro Trossard’s last gasp winner away at Tottenham secured all three points for his side and once again left punters tearing up their accas before the 3 o’clock action had even got underway.
The highlight
There is only one winner when it comes to the highlight of this record-breaking campaign — the 4-0 drubbing of Manchester United.
And once again, a certain Ecuadorian central midfielder was at the heart of it, beating David De Gea with a long-ranged piledriver to open the scoring and set the Seagulls on their way.
Three second-half goals in 11 crazy minutes were to follow, leaving the home faithful on cloud nine. And the funny thing was, it was a thoroughly deserved win.
United were mauled and in just 12 short years, we had gone from watching the likes of Liam Dickinson at the Withdean in League One, to destroying the most successful club in the history of English football.
What a ride it’s been, and with Graham Potter at the helm, it doesn’t stop here.
