The mighty Liverpool were in town to face Brighton with a place in the Carabao Cup quarter finals up for grabs.
Being a midweek game, attendance was down and not a sell out There were several possible reasons for this. It was half term so families may have been away.
Some Brighton fans probably expected the result we ended up getting. And train travel to and from the Amex has been poorly organised this season with many supporters now avoiding night matches totally.
Luckily, I was not using the rail system to access the Amex on Wednesday. I have never seen queues like the ones leaving the stadium before. Some people reportedly gave up and walked the five miles back to Brighton City Centre, it was that bad.
Surely something has to be done to improve the public transport situation? Otherwise, the Albion risk more people deciding it is not worth the bother and increasing numbers of empty seats not reflecting well on the club.
But any drama in the train queue was insignificant compared to what happened in the East Stand Upper during half time.
From where I was, it appeared that Stewards needed to deal with a male who seemed to be refusing to comply with whatever instructions they gave him.
Sussex Police attended, four at first and then as many as 10 officers arrived. They arrested the man, handcuffed him, put him in a spit hood and took on the awkward task of carrying this no-cooperative male out of the stadium.
All whilst ensuring nobody else was hurt or injured because of his behaviour. Let us hope he is never allowed back.
The East Stand is meant to be a family area, not that his sort of behaviour is acceptable anywhere in the Amex.
Kicking off in the East Upper #bhafc #BriLiv pic.twitter.com/tgkxqmBPz1
— BennettsFieldBunny🏴🇬🇧 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@BennettsField) October 30, 2024
The police who dealt with this male have my greatest respect. I can tell you first-hand that if you have to deal with a non-compliant person who was kicking off like that, you need at least eight to 10 officers. That number is by no means heavy-handed, especially in a tight space.
That incident provided more drama than either side managed on the pitch during the first half. Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz were flagged offside when getting in good position for Liverpool but not much happened other than that.
Brian Owen from The Argus reported it was a quiet opening 45 minutes and he was right. Both sets of fans did their best to liven things up though an extended chanting competition between the North and South Stands.
The Liverpool faithful would sign their respective song in a strong Merseyside accent. The Albion would respond with our corresponding chant from the other end. It was great to hear.
Fabian Hurzeler had made eight changes with one eye on Saturday’s game against… Liverpool, again. Jason Steele started in goal, as is customary now he is the Albion’s cup goalkeeper.
Steele made some excellent saves – but why does he have to give us all near heart attacks with his footwork so close to the goal line?
There were several times he nearly got caught out, and it is totally unnecessary to risk that kind of error… unless his middle name is Sanchez!
I would be interested to hear what you think. Steele seemed to believe he was Pele with the ball at his feet through the first half. But he is far from that!
Half time flew by thanks to the unexpected action in the stands. Before you could blink, settle down and return your attention to the pitch, Liverpool took the lead.
Andy Robertson fed Gakpo down the left side. Gakpo cut inside and teed up a shot on the edge of the box. It whistled like a thunderbolt straight into the right side of the Albion goal.
Brighton responded well and made several attempts in fairly quick succession. Tariq Lamptey was involved in most, once again showing us just how good he is on the attack.
The 63rd minute brought Liverpool and Gakpo their second, squeezing a shot between the neat post and Steele. Three goals then arrived in the final 10 minutes to round off an entertaining evening.
Simon Adingra slotted home a rebound from an Evan Ferguson effort on 81. The deficit was cut to one for all of four minutes before Luis Diaz made it 3-1 during a round of goalmouth bagatelle.
Brighton did not show any signs of giving up, and continued to fight. A shot in the 90th minute from Lamptey took a deflection, giving him a very deserved goal to make it Brighton 2-3 Liverpool with six minutes of injury time remaining.
The Albion were sadly unable to find an equaliser and so the long wait to reach the last eight of this competition goes on until at least the 2025-26 season.
But Brighton can still take heart from the problems they caused Liverpool. These Reds look beatable and the Albion get a quickfire chance to prove that on Merseyside this weekend.
Tony Noble @Noble1844Tony
