Matt O’Riley’s Premier League journey with Brighton has been anything but straightforward, as the former Celtic midfielder endured a tough outing against Fulham on Thursday night.
Matt O'Riley Brighton
Soccer Football – Carabao Cup – Second Round – Brighton & Hove Albion v Crawley Town – The American Express Community Stadium, Brighton, Britain – August 27, 2024 Brighton & Hove Albion’s Matt O’Riley during the warm up before the match Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley
Starting only his second league game since joining the Seagulls in a £25 million summer move, O’Riley inadvertently found himself on the scoresheet for all the wrong reasons.
O’Riley’s Brighton career started with high expectations but was quickly derailed by an unfortunate injury just seven minutes into his debut in the EFL Cup.
After weeks of recovery, he marked his return in dramatic fashion last month, scoring the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over reigning champions Manchester City—a moment that looked to set him up for a strong second half of the season.
However, Thursday’s clash against Fulham provided a stark contrast. Lining up against his former club, O’Riley’s night took an unexpected turn when he was involved in a comical own goal. Attempting to defend a corner, the ball struck his backside and ricocheted into the net, handing Fulham a crucial second goal in their eventual 3-1 win.
That’s O’Riley unfortunate 😩
Fulham are back in the lead against Brighton… Matt O’Riley didn’t know much about this#PLonPrime #FULBHA pic.twitter.com/UpIciLih9J
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) December 5, 2024
Despite the setback, O’Riley has shown glimpses of the talent that made him such a pivotal figure at Celtic. He had a great chance when Brighton were trailing, forcing a good save.
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