The doctor isn’t happy I support Brighton
Many years ago, my doctor wrote down for me what my ideal blood pressure should be. I still have his notes on a piece of paper.
Good blood pressure is 120 over 80. Acceptable blood pressure is 150 over 90. Bad blood pressure is 160+ over 190+. Worst of all, blow-a-fuse blood pressure would be 240 over 140.
For the final five minutes of Nottingham Forest 2-3 Brighton followed by the painful 10 minutes of tIme added on, I was in blow-a-fuse territory.
I have for many years now had to monitor my blood pressure and take the appropriate medication to control it. But how on earth are you meant to do that when hanging onto a one-goal lead with only 10 men? The doctor will not be happy I support the Albion.
When that final whistle blew at the City Ground, I needed a rest and a bottle of Lucozade Sport to get some energy back. Goodness knows how the players felt.
They had given absolutely everything. You could see how much it meant to them and Roberto De Zerbi by the celebrations at the end.
De Zerbi sprinted diagonally from the technical area across to the other side of the pitch where the Albion fans were. He even forgot to shake hands with Forest boss Steve Cooper. It was so moving.
We later learned that in all the excitement, Joel Veltman threw his shirt into the crowd complete with GPS vest.
That led to a great story later in the week of the honest supporter heading to the training ground at Lancing to return Veltman’s tracker to him. It certainly made for an unusual and interesting read on the official Albion website.
Saturday morning started with the first real frost of winter, leading to a clear day and a blue sky. When the Brighton line up was published, there were five changes from the team who drew 1-1 with Sheffield United.
Three of those came in defence as the Albion injury list continues to build. We as a club are not alone in this, and it cannot be coincidence so many injuries are happening across the Premier League after players have voiced concerns over the impact of playing a winter World Cup last year.
To fill the bench, De Zerbi turned to some new names. Ben Jackson, Benicio Baker-Boaitey and Josh Duffus are all up-and-coming Brighton Under 21s players who have big futures ahead of them.
The other interesting selection decisions from De Zerbi saw Tariq Lamptey making his first start since October.
It was a great shame to see him pull up and need replacing after 34 minutes, although this did give Jack Hinshelwood another opportunity. Young Hinshelwood nearly scored when he came on.
And then there was the return of Jakub Moder. De Zerbi has hinted in his pre-match press conference that Moder might get some minutes at the City Ground.
What a fantastic sight it was to see him back on the pitch in those final 20 minutes (just as the blood pressure was about to go mad) for the first time since that really bad injury in April 2022.
Our BBC Radio Sussex commentators were as usual at the City Ground. The atmosphere sounded lively, as it always does when you visit Nottingham Forest.
The home fans blared out Mull of Kintyre before kick off with the wall of noise reminding everyone this would not be an easy game for the Albion.
No sooner had Johnny Cantor and Warren Aspinall said Brighton were playing from right to left and looked good in possession through the first couple of minutes did the Albion find themselves 1-0 down.
Morgan Gibbs-White crossed into the box and Anthony Elanga headed past Bart Verbruggen. Oh dear, not a great start.
Watching the highlights back and you can see how well De Zerbi took it; hopefully, his doctor doesn’t measure his stress levels anytime soon.
Many of us no doubt recalled what happened at the City Ground last season, a few days after the FA Cup semi final against Manchester United at Wembley.
Cooper and Forest had a game plan to beat Brighton and roared on by their 12th man, that is exactly what they did.
Going behind after only three minutes had me worried a repeat was on the cards and that the Albion’s winless run was going to stretch to seven games.
But we have seen many times over the years this determined Brighton squad fight back and that is what they did here.
Things had to go from bad to worse first though. 1-0 down and then Ansu Fati picked up an injury. He was replaced by Joao Pedro, who would go onto enjoy quite the afternoon.
The Albion made light of losing Fati and the 26th minute mark brought a fantastic equaliser from Evan Ferguson. Billy Gilmour worked a pass up the pitch to Pascal Gross, whose exquisite cross found Ferguson. Our young striker buried the chance into the bottom corner.
Next we heard that Lewis Dunk made a great block on Gibbs-White to prevent a goal scoring opportunity. Dunk was playing like an absolute rock at the back, consistently thwarting Forest as they tried to retake the lead.
Instead, it was Brighton who went into half time ahead. Gross put in another spot-on cross from the right and Pedro made no mistake with a stoppage time header. The Forest fans now sounded subdued as the Albion support began to make themselves heard going into the break.
Facundo Buonanotte replaced Adam Lallana for the start of the second half and it was clear from what Johnny and Warren were saying that Brighton were under pressure.
Having survived that, the Albion added a third. Gross sent in a free kick and as Dunk won a header back across goal, referee Anthony Taylor spotted Chris Wood pulling Pedro to the ground.
Wood was making no attempt to win the ball and so Mr Taylor quite rightly awarded a penalty to Brighton. A very good decision and Pedro used his expertise to put the Albion two goals clear in the 58th minute.
That brought the blood pressure down from where it had been… but little did we know what a stressful last half hour we were in store for!
It all started when Mr Taylor was called to his pitch side monitor to review a coming together between Callum Hudson-Odoi and Hinshelwood.
You know what happens whenever a referee goes to watch the television… Forest had a penalty. Dunk then speaks to Mr Taylor and gets a yellow card.
Dunk was not done there though and said something else, triggering Mr Taylor to brandish a red. Everyone was astonished, including De Zerbi going beside himself. The commentator on MyAlbion TV said: “It is starting to get very spicy indeed!” This was a complete understatement!
Gibbs-White sent Bart Verbruggen the wrong way from the spot, cutting the deficit to one with 15 minutes still to play and Brighton now with only 10 men.
Forest suddenly had a second wind, sensing they could claim a draw or maybe even a win. Brighton though battled hard, fighting off attack after attack from Forest.
Jan Paul van Hecke in particular was amazing, taking over from Dunk as the leader on the pitch. Even the hosts did find a way through the defence in the final minutes, Verbruggen was on hand to make a match winning save from a header. A brilliant piece of goalkeeping.
Those 10 minutes of added time felt more like 10 hours. Through gritted teeth though, the Albion got there. What a game, what a sight at the end, what a team. Just don’t tell the doctor…
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.
