We all know by now that in football, things sometimes do not go the way you plan or think they will. Sunday afternoon for Brighton against Sheffield United was one of those occasions.
Personally, I was relieved the Blades did not score a second as they briefly threatened to after equalising as they did not deserve a win or even a draw.
As our leader Roberto De Zerbi said in his post match interview, it was like two separate games. One game up until Mahmoud Dahoud was shown a red card, another from that point until the end.
After Dahoud was sent off, it felt like the Sheffield United players had been given some sort of of wonder drug through their Lucozade Sports bottles on the touchline. They suddenly came alive.
The opposite was true of Brighton, who lost all their shape and rhythm in those lost 20 minutes. One thing we should all carefully think of before criticising the Albion is that our players truly care.
They all come across as downbeat afterwards – including Dahoud, who posted an apology on social media – and it was quite clear they felt they had let us fans down.
Yes, we have lost some points over the last few games. However, to think of it as a crisis as has been said in some parts is going over the top.
We have not entered a losing streak and have the longest injury list in the Premier League. Even Newcastle United with all their dosh are struggling to cope with the extra work from European football.
By the time the international break ends, we will hopefully have a couple of players back and draws will start to turn into wins.
Being Remembrance Sunday, we were very lucky to have two excellent Salvation Army buglers playing The Last Post before kick off. Both head coaches laid poppy wreaths to remember those who gave their lives so we could play, watch (and moan) about football freely today.
I watched the Remembrance Service from the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday evening and found it extremely moving. In particular, the sad stories of those who served in the Korean War, often called the Forgotten War.
Having been to South Korea and visited the war cemetery in Busan, it is an eye opening experiences. Not many people realise the sacrifices that were made during that conflict.
To the football and there was a very early heart in mouth moment when Gustavo Hamer got on the end of a header which thankfully he could only steer wide.
What made the red card more difficult to take was that Dahoud had been playing well before it. He put Ansu Fati in on goal inside of five minutes.
Flanked either side by a Sheffield United defender, Fati stopped, checked and cut onto his right for a shot which Wes Foderingham took close to his chest.
Having Adam Lallana back in the starting XI was a big plus, even if he only played for 45 minutes. His experience and the way he uses the ball are invaluable.
Lallana started the move which allowed Simon Adingra to give Brighton a seventh minute lead by feeding the ball out to the left flank.
Adingra beat Blades player after Blades player. He then tapped the ball to Facundo Buonanotte, whose back hell returned it straight into the path of Adingra for am effort Foderingham had no chance of keeping out.
It was a fantastic run of pure brilliance. Once the celebrations had died down, I thought to myself we were in for a thundering afternoon and my prediction of a 4-1 Brighton win may come true. This is why I am not a gambling man.
The goal certainly impressed De Zerbi as he leapt into the crowd to celebrate and rightly so. We will not see many individual efforts better this season.
Another chance came for Fati as Brighton began cutting through the Blades defence at will. Pascal Gross next produced one of his famous turns and found Billy Gilmour.
He played in Buonanotte, who was unlucky to see his shot hit the side netting. Such exciting stuff as we all sat just waiting for the next goal to arrive.
Gilmour almost had it with a cracker of a shot from some 30 yards out. It had power, dip and pace but Foderingham just managed to tip the ball over the bar.
De Zerbi made some half time changes in an attempt to turn all those opportunities in part one into goals in part two.
Joao Pedro almost had an instant impact, hitting a powerful effort over the bar after Jason Steele spotted a chance to get him away.
Kaoru Mitoma was also on and was soon beginning to cause problems down the left. From one of these instances, Brighton should have had a penalty for handball according to almost every pundit analysing the game.
Once again though, the officials worked against Brighton. VAR did not check it either, too busy finishing off a half time pizza or something.
There is no continuity in decision making as we have seen the same penalty given against the Albion on so many occasions in the past.
Still the Albion searched for a second goal. A bagatelle-type shot-on-goal situation developed with the ball constantly deflected by a yellow shirt.
Dahoud then saw an effort punched away by Foderingham. It was Dahoud’s last contribution before he was dismissed.
Brighton going down to 10 was shortly followed by Sheffield United equalising. Jayden Bogle put the ball across goal and Adam Webster deflected it past Jason Steele to make it 1-1.
Not only did the Blades not actually score for themselves in the game, but they did not have a shot on target of their own. That summed things up.
Things could have become worse as United began playing like a team possessed. They really did look like they were going to get a second goal.
The closest Brighton came to finding a winner was when Carlos Baleba was brought down just outside the Blades box. Nothing though came of the free kick and that was that.
Despite the draw making it six games without a win, the Albion remain eighth in the table with 19 points – which is two points ahead of where we were after 12 games last season.
Looking at the big picture, that is not a bad position to be in. Chins up, Albion fans.
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.
