As I start to write this article, I am 35,500 feet up in the air inside a Boeing Airbus A320 flying from Madeira to London Gatwick. It is my birthday and Brighton have just beaten Bournemouth 3-1 at the Amex Stadium.
Returning to England from sunny Portugal at the end of a relaxing holiday was undoubtedly been be made better by three points in a game which I was able to listen to thanks to the Albion website and BBC Radio Sussex.
Johnny Cantor and Warren Aspinall informed us that it is a nice afternoon in Brighton. There are a total of nine changes from Thursday night’s Europa League defeat against AEK Athens, a game which I watched on television in Madeira.
Just Pervis Estupinan and Billy Gilmour kept their places. Roberto De Zerbi is living up to his promise that players will be rotated heavily this season to avoid injury, allow recovery and get the new young talent used to how Brighton play.
The return of Lewis Dunk was very welcome but losing Pascal Gross and James Milner to injury was a blow. And just like that, the game kicks off with the Albion going from left to right.
It sounded like Brighton are having a lot of possession in the early minutes but not doing much with it. This is confirmed when Johnny and Warren go off on a tangent about how the sale of white trainers, black trousers and black polar necks have gone through the roof in Sussex thanks to everyone wanting to look like De Zerbi.
Our Italian head coach is a fashion icon! I look forward to seeing the Amex Superstore get a De Zerbi costume out in time for Christmas.
With 14 minutes played, the talk switched from De Zerbi’s clothes to his frustrations. Johnny told us that resulted in him kicking a water bottle in the technical area.
De Zerbi is a passionate guy and that earned him a yellow card against AEK. But hey, I would not want him any other way. Would you?
This was turning into a difficult listen. The Albion sounded like they are struggling to make any inroads against a Bournemouth side who had not won a game this season.
And then Bournemouth took the lead. 25 minutes had gone when Bart Vebruggen was caught playing out from the back with the sort of mistake we have seen before.
A misplaced short pass gifted the ball to Dominic Solanke, who lobbed the ball over the head of our goalkeeper. Oh dear.
Thinking about that moment as I look out of the aircraft window into the blue and white beyond, I am reminded that players do not make these mistakes on purpose. They are working harder than ever to please us fans.
There will be some faux pas along the way, however. That has to be expected but whatever occurs, we must not give the lads any negative waves from the stands.
At the end of 45 minutes, Brighton were still behind. Facundo Buonanotte had a shot, as did Evan Ferguson. Another effort from someone else went behind for a corner.
It was in the second of three minutes injury time that Brighton received what Warren described as their “get out of jail free card.”
Having been unable to force a number of attempts from the Bournemouth six yard box into the goal, a cross from Billy Gilmour caught defender Milos Kerkez and flew into the back of the net.
God bless the famous Rick O’Shay, our 12th man for finding a way past Neto. The roar from the Amex could be heard over the airwaves all the way to Madeira.
The settee in our holiday home is much sturdier than the one at our house in England so I celebrated wildly, knowing the springs could take it.
For other managers, a goal on the stroke of half time might lighten the team talk. I doubt whether that happened with De Zerbi’s half time words to the Albion.
Whilst De Zerbi delivered his words of wisdom/hairdryer treatment, I checked the other scores from around the Premier League.
Arsenal and Tottenham were potentially heading for a draw, which would help our position in the table. I told this to my wife.
“What are you worrying about table positions at this early point in the season for?” she said.
“You should always have your goal in mind, and Albion this year have the aim to take every game as it comes, and if scores for other teams go in our favour, all well and good,” I told her.
Us fans often look to the future. Not so much the squad, who I am sure are focussing on each match as it comes.
And what came next was a much better second half from Brighton. There were two changes, Kaoru Mitoma and Ansu Fati coming on as Ferguson and Buonanotte took a rest.
Ferguson had been ill prior to the game but still wanted to play. It is probably fair to say he was still suffering a little.
After just 15 seconds, Fati and Mitoma combined with a one-two which released the Japanese Bullet Train. A quick piece of Mitoma magic later and the Albion had the lead.
I thought of those Albion fans who disappear five minutes before half time and return five minutes after the second half has restarted, who will have missed such a brilliant goal.
Johnny and Warren reported that energy levels looked so much higher after Brighton went ahead. The Albion were after a third, although there were still moments of frustration.
Dunk was booked for throwing the ball away. I think we will see a number of suspensions come late October or early November as referees tighten up on dissent under instruction from Howard Webb.
The game was made safe on 77 minutes when Pervis Estupinan displayed the skill and pace we are used to when delivering a pinpoint cross into the box. It found the head of Mitoma, who sent it beyond Neto and into the Bournemouth net.
Warren said afterwards: “When you win and are not playing that well, it is a good sign.” De Zerbi had a slightly different take, feeling that the game had taken two or three years off his life because of stress caused by the poor first half performance.
With almost perfect timing, I finish writing this just as we start out descent into Gatwick. And what do you know, as we circle around Sussex, so the Amex looms into view out of the window.
See you back there soon.
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.
