Written by Kirsikka
A change at the back for AFC Bournemouth saw a feeling ill Diakite drop out to be replaced by Milosavljevic, whilst Hill retained the right back slot after coming on there in the last match for the still injured Smith.
Man of the Match against Brighton
Semenyo
Semenyo
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Scott
Scott
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Senesi
Senesi
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Evanilson
Evanilson
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Milosavljevic
Milosavljevic
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Someone else
Someone else
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The game got off to an unfortunate start with an early injury to a Brighton player. The subsequent treatment time and sub after a clash took a little early pace out of the match. No helter-skelter beginning today.
It was a scrappy day of midfield battles, lacking in significant attacking quality. However, I’ll give credit to the defensive players on both sides for that. They were stepping up and snuffing everything out, not allowing things to build in either direction.
It made the first 17 minutes beautifully ugly. After all, there is a pleasure to be had in seeing the other side of the game done well.
Then a goal came from nowhere that elevated the whole match. We worked the ball down the right, Semenyo brought it down in the area, and gave a short pass back to Scott. He spun on a sixpence and nailed a shot into the corner from outside the box. A fabulous left-foot thunderbolt!
A couple of minutes prior to that, a Brighton player had gone crashing into the defensive hoardings after sliding on the grass following a defensive nudge from Semenyo. The kind of thing you see from defenders 20 times a game, with no free kick and no bad outcome. After getting some treatment and coming back on for a short time, he decided he couldn’t continue, so he was also subbed off.
This was a turning point in the match as the ref must have felt like more happened than actually did. Suddenly, his performance was comedically poor, with none of the jokes he was telling amusing.
Essentially, for the rest of the half, if we tried to tackle, it was a free kick to Brighton. If they committed a foul, it was seen as fine. The disparity in what was allowed from either side was bigger than the gap between the comfort levels of sitting on our respective local beaches.
Example: Brooks is taken out in the area, and the ref waves it on when he could easily have given a penalty. The ball breaks out of their area only for Senesi to step up and win it back, giving us possession in a dangerous position with their defence all over the place. Instead of being consistent with how he allowed them away with the Brooks challenge, he gave them a free kick and booked Senesi. Laughable.
I guess the fourth official told the ref to calm down a bit at half time because he came out in the second period a bit more balanced. It’s never good when the man in the middle tries to make the match about him.
It’s worth talking about a few other specific things.
First of all, on the boy wonder Milosavljevic: Zeze went to Saudi Arabia, Mosquera to Arsenal, and Leoni to Liverpool. It’s easy to argue he was our fourth choice starlet centre back recruit, and that’s not even counting the more experienced targets that we were in for, like Disasi.
Yet, football is a game about opportunities. It doesn’t actually matter if he was our 1st choice target or the 15th choice; he’s here and he’s playing for a Premier League club. Due to another player’s illness, he started today, and… he looks good. Damn good. Composed and with a physical presence.
He’s no slouch when it comes to pace either. Brighton’s only moment of note in the first half saw a player go through wide-ish in the area. Our young man mountain pegged it back to put him under pressure, meaning the shot was already going wide when Petrovic helped it behind.
He might just prove to be the complete package. However, we mustn’t judge him by the freakish pace of development that Huijsen showed last season. Patience will be required, but based on this showing, he looks like a fantastic pick-up. And well done to him for not letting nerves show. One bit of ball skill in the second half was bordering on showboating.
The second thing: Set pieces have long been a bugbear of mine. The thing is, we’re inventive and try some good things. The coaching staff have clever ideas. We simply don’t seem able to execute the finish. I think we’re up to 27 corners already this season without a goal. One dummy step over routine today was brilliant, only to see the shot go well over.
Look where we are as it is… if we could crack this weakness, then the Sky isn’t the limit. It could be TNT Sports and European football.
Anyway, into the second half and Brighton had a reset and came out looking much more dangerous. In fact, they equalised almost immediately.
Truffert couldn’t contain Minteh, who made space for the cross and sent it to the far post. Petrovic tried to come for it but couldn’t get anywhere near it, and Mitoma (a Sterling-like curse up on us) snuck in at the back post to nod it into an empty net.
Adam Smith has been a superb servant to this club down the years. Genuine Premier League quality signed for a League One sum. Yet, one of the regular criticisms of him has been losing his man at the back post, who then scores an easy header. This was that, only with Hill there instead.
Watch the backpost replay. Hill checks with a glance three separate times where Mitoma is before taking a step forward and leaving him the space to run in unchallenged at the back post.
It was a huge and unfortunate blot on a copy book that saw him keep one of their most dangerous players almost silent.
The momentum completely shifted after this, with Brighton now bossing the game for a spell. Still, we all know we can rely on Lewis Dunk to lend a helping hand when we’re in need.
He passed the ball to Tavs in the centre circle, who got his head up and ran at goal with the pack of chasing defenders all trying to crowd him. He drew all five to him and then passed it to the wide-open Eva in the area.
Sadly, the ball was overhit, so Evanilson had to cut back since it gave one of the defenders time to get across. He took a swipe and cleaned out the Brazilian for a clear penalty. No discussion needed on that one.
The question is, who takes it with Kluivert still on the bench? Up stepped Semenyo and calmly slotted it home. Always believe…
The rest of the match reverted to scrappy battling. We looked dangerous on the break without really managing to create a chance to test the keeper. Meanwhile, Brighton tried to build up a head of steam but couldn’t fashion much. Their best stuff came from Minteh, who tormented Truffert for the entire second half.
Last match, I was seriously annoyed at the ref forcing Hill to leave the pitch when we were defending an injury time long throw after he got a blow to the face, even though he didn’t get treatment. It was suggested at the time that it was due to the ref signalling the physio to come on, even though he never entered the pitch.
Today, we were on the other side of this as the ref made a Brighton player leave the pitch at the end because he took a blow to the head. He went down holding his face for a second, realised he wouldn’t get a free kick (there was nothing in it), but the ref had already stopped things before he could stand up.
It looks like any indication you’ve been hit on the head in injury time now means 30 seconds on the sideline. Must be some kind of directive to stop time wasting.
And that was that. Not the beautiful game, by any means, but a beautiful result.
Selected Player Watch
—– Milosavljevic —–
Said most of it already above. A very impressive debut.
—– Scott —–
Another very strong performance in the middle. Looks confident, and that strike was pure class.
—– Truffert —–
Until today, he probably thought this Premier League lark was easy. Now he knows. A tough challenge where the winger had the beating of him. He learn from this and come out of it a better player.
—– Tavernier —–
I mentioned above about opportunity knocking in football. Circumstances meant he’s been utilised in a different way this season and, just when you might have questioned where he fits with all the incomings, he’s suddenly indispensable. I’m not sure I’d say it’s a Christie-level rebirth yet, but he’s certainly on that trail.
—– Hill —–
Hard this one. He kept a player who usually torments us relatively quiet (with excellent defensive support from Semenyo). However, the defending from him on the goal was shocking. I see him as a utility right back, at best, and suspect we’ll move on to Jiminez playing there soon.
—– Adams —–
This was the kind of midfield battle he was born to win. And he did.
AI and Tactics Watch
Not every week in the Premier League can be swashbuckling magnificence. Sometimes you need to grind out the result against a team who have matched up well with you. Today was one of those days, and we more than met the challenge.
On the pitch, it was a midfield slugfest, but the real battle took place in the dugouts, with both men constantly tweaking things to try and exploit opposition weaknesses and shore up their own.
At one point, Brighton started aiming long, low balls into the channel between Senesi and Truffert, sensing they could outpace the Argentinian. AI responded by closing off that avenue, so they shifted to attacking down their left, but couldn’t get it to stick there.
In recent years, Brentford and Brighton have been horrible fixtures for us. Last time out, AI obliterated the ex-Brentford manager at his new club and this time he just about out-thought the Brighton manager.
I don’t think this was an undeserved result on any reasonable measure. It was hard fought but deserved.
I hesitate to say a workmanlike win as that sounds pejorative when, in this case, it should be seen as a compliment. We didn’t blitz them like we did Spurs. We weren’t hugely wasteful. We put in a shift and got the job done. Three points in the bag, time to clock out and go down the pub.
Next up, Newcastle. Win that and we really will start to wonder where this season is going.
Does anyone know how much a TNT Sports subscription costs? Asking for a friend from the future…
Your say…
NorthStandMark posted…
To start with, this set of results following the summer upheaval and transfer profits is a huge credit to Iraola and the squad.
Early days, let’s see what next weekend brings, but we look in decent shape. – To join the conversation, please click here.