Burnley seems to be a bogey team for Brighton, with just one win over the Clarets at the Amex Stadium. We all remember what happened on their previous visit; the rain poured and the Albion were beaten 3-0 by a side who had won once all season at that point and would end up relegated.
This latest game against Burnley though, we all thought would be different. Wrong! At least the Albion did not lose and although disappointing to have only drawn 1-1 at home with struggling opponents, Brighton would have won comfortably without James ‘Old’ Trafford in goal for the visitors.
That is worth remembering in amongst some of the doom and gloom caused by the result. The Albion will not come up against many goalkeepers in as inspired form as Old Trafford this season.
Just like for the midweek win over Brentford, there were issued impacting the train service which made it difficult for both Brighton and Burnley fans to get to and from the Amex.
Paul – who sits next to me in the East Upper Stand – travels all the way down from Nottingham to support the Albion at every opportunity, work permitting. He only just made it in time for the start of the game.
The visitors meanwhile only took about a quarter of the normal away allocation. One steward said to me it had never been so empty since Brighton won promotion to the Premier League.
He reckoned around 750 Clarets supporters were present. I know that two of those 750 had a much shorter journey than most, being residents of Crawley Down like myself. They are Burnley season ticket holders and we often bump into each other on dog walks.
Sussex has a lot of football fans who support clubs other than Brighton, although probably not too many Burnley.
My wife and I went to London to the Guards Chapel for their Carol Service on Sunday. What really amazed me was how many Spurs fans were on the train from Brighton, heading to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the game against Newcastle United.
Spurs won 4-1 against a weary Newcastle side suffering with many injuries, like the Albion. Roberto De Zerbi has tried his best to mitigate, making a number of changes from game to game in an attempt to avoid tiredness and fatigue.
Now, I would never question De Zerbi as he knows best. But one caller to the BBC Radio Sussex phone in after the game asked why De Zerbi does not name his strongest XI to start the game, get a couple of goals ahead and then take those players off for their rest.
Would that make more sense than bringing on Kaoru Mitoma and Billy Gilmour at half time with the Albion chasing the game, as was the case against Burnley? It was an interesting question and one I am sure De Zerbi would have a good answer to.
In the opposite dugout to De Zerbi was Vincent Kompany. The Burnley boss had done his homework on Brighton, going as far as to say he wanted his own club to copy the Albion’s approach in an attempt to match their achievements.
Burnley had plenty of possession through the opening 10 minutes. Johann Berg Gudmundsson was the first to go close, his effort whizzing just wide of Bart Verbruggen’s left hand post.
Adam Lallana enjoyed a good spell next, playing some creative passes into other players. Yes, Lallana made a couple of mistakes later in the half; however, his skills and experience far outweigh the odd error.
Old Trafford made the first of many good saves as Pascal Gross had the Albion’s first chance. The ex-Manchester City youngster was one of the stars for England Under 21s when they won the European Championships in the summer. He certainly showed why Burnley paid £19 million for him in the summer.
James Milner was next to be denied by Old Trafford with a low fizzer pushed away. Jan Paul van Hecke headed a Simon Adingra cross wide and Mahmoud Dahoud hit a shot which just travelled over the bar.
The chances were coming thick and fast but with each one missed, I began to wonder if this was going to be one of those days. I turned to the man from Nottingham and told him I felt Burnley were going to score against the run of play.
Lo and behold, with 45 minutes on the clock and half time rapidly approaching, a Wilson Odobert curler beat Verbruggen to send Brighton into the break 1-0 down.
As we all know, the Albion have a knack of fighting back. De Zerbi brought on Mitoma for Lallana and Gilmour for Dahoud to try and find a breakthrough.
There was an early second half scare when Odobert went close to scoring again. Brighton managed to get Mitoma in the game after that and he made a real difference, creating a number of good chances.
Two of them fell to Evan Ferguson, but the bounce of the ball was not quite right. Old Trafford save from Simon Adingra as frustration levels started to grow.
Not for the first time and not for the last, Gross was the man who helped Brighton find a goal. Some magical moves and a pinpoint cross found Adingra, whose header sent the ball beyond Old Trafford.
Three points would have moved the Albion into fifth place. However, it was not be. Old Trafford made more impressive saves with the commentator on the MyAlbionTV highlights describing him as a brick wall. That he was.
Burnley might have even snatched all three points when Conor Roberts could not quite make contact with an incoming ball.
So, one point dropped or two points gained? Whatever your viewpoint on that, I am sure most Brighton supporters would have taken eighth place in the Premier League and a guaranteed spot in the knockout rounds of the Europa League heading towards Christmas.
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.
