Brighton and Hove Albion wrapped up their pre-season campaign with a 2-1 win over Wolfsburg in which both teams had eye-catching spells.
A fast-paced contest saw plenty of chances at a sun-bathed Amex Stadium, and the performances of goalkeepers Bart Verbruggen and Kamil Grabara were to thank for it not becoming a cricket score.
Georginio Rutter and Amex debutant Maxim De Cuyper were goalscorers for the Seagulls, while the Bundesliga side hinted at a late comeback when Rogério blasted home in the 80th minute.
Fabian Hürzeler’s side just about held on, though, and could take a mix of positives and lessons into next week’s league opener against Fulham.
Story of the Match
Brighton were well in control of the match’s opening stages, moving freely through Wolfsburg bodies and pressuring Grabara’s goal at will.
They had a fantastic chance to go ahead in the 7th minute, with a cross from Yankuba Minteh finding Rutter, but both the Frenchman’s close-range effort and Diego Gómez’s fierce rebound were impressively stopped by Grabara.
Rutter was the early standout, slipping past players with ease and lurking ominously in the box. His presence forced Konstantinos Koulierakis to dice with danger when he chested a Kaoru Mitoma cross back to Grabara.
It was fitting that Rutter was the evening’s first scorer, then, when he received a Yasin Ayari through ball and blasted into the bottom left corner after 15 minutes.
Brighton were by no means perfect, however, and were vulnerable on the counter.
Lewis Dunk took a yellow card for a cynical foul in midfield, while Andreas Skov Olsen was guilty of a horrible miss after 22 minutes, skying his effort when in acres of space from Mohamed Amoura’s ball across the box.
Minteh was also culpable of a bad miss when he sent a header over the crossbar from a fantastic Mitoma cross.
It was soon the goalkeepers’ time to step up for plaudits, both making incredible stops on the stroke of the half hour.
Verbruggen, back in the Brighton side, stuck out a sizeable right paw to deny Lovro Majer one-on-one after another Amoura assist from the right, while Grabara was on hand to tip a tricky Mitoma effort around the base of his right post.
Chances galore
Another fast start in the second half for Brighton yielded more chances, and Minteh was the next to profit, stealing possession from Joakim Mæhle and shrugging off Koulierakis before drawing a reaction stop from Grabara.
Again, though, Wolfsburg’s counter was a danger.
Just before the hour, Patrick Wimmer sprang away on the left from an excellent through ball and squared for Amoura to finish.
The Algerian forward’s short frame did not allow him to catch up with the ball, however, and Brighton had a let-off.
Wimmer’s pace with the ball proved dangerous again when he drove through the middle and found Skov Olsen, with a shot eventually coming from Maximilian Arnold, but saved easily by Verbruggen.
It was about time, therefore, when Brighton netted their second in the 73rd minute.
Camped deep in the Wolfsburg half, Jan Paul van Hecke’s clever scooped pass allowed Mats Wieffer to thread a ball across the face of goal.
With Grabara only able to get a finger to the ball, it made Maxim De Cuyper’s first-time finish much easier for a lovely Brighton goal straight out of the Low Countries.
Wolfsburg still had something to say, however, and a speculative blast across goal from substitute Rogério broke Verbruggen’s defences in the 80th minute, flying through the ‘keeper to make it 2-1.
This began their most profitable spell of the match, as right-back Kilian Fischer broke into the box and was only denied by an outstretched Vebruggen arm a few minutes later.
Ultimately, time ran out for the visitors, and it was Brighton who emerged with a hard-earned – and rather revealing – victory.
Having played the second half of pre-season in an unfamiliar number nine role, Brighton’s record signing has impressed enough to raise questions of whether he starts ahead of Danny Welbeck.
Hürzeler has hopefully seen enough, too, to decide whether the Frenchman is a genuine all-positions weapon in the Brighton frontline.
Rutter’s performance in this contest was a triumph for his delicate balance of physicality and finesse, drawing gasps from the crowd as he waltzed past defenders and impressed expressions as he bossed the 18-yard box.
Providing he can have an injury-free start to the season, Rutter can bolster his high stock on the south coast even further.
This performance strongly suggested that he will do just that.