Seagulls' wings clipped as Euro fairytale takes flight
GREEK LIGHTNING: AEK Athens' Ezequiel Ponce celebrates scoring their side's third goal of the game during the UEFA Europa League Group B match at The AMEX, Brighton and Hove. Pic: Steven Paston/PA Wire
Brighton’s remarkable fairy tale was jolted, but surely not ended, as they lost 3-2 to AEK Athens on their European debut despite two penalties from striker Joao Pedro on a night that took 26 years to build.
Ultimately defensive errors, including giving the ball away in the 84th minute to allow AEK substitute Ezequiel Ponce to put his side ahead for the third and final time in the match, cost Roberto De Zerbi’s side. But the memories for Albion fans will not all be painful.
Even before kick-off, the city’s famous Royal Pavilion was lit up in blue and white to mark Albion’s first ever European fixture– and the club’s rousing old-timer anthem ‘Good Old Sussex By The Sea’ has never sounded so loud.
But AEK proved difficult opponents on a night when the home team were missing captain Lewis Dunk and Ireland star Evan Ferguson due to injury.
In truth it was Dunk’s absence that hurt the most, with AEK taking the lead three times – twice from set pieces and once from a breakaway in which Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi will not be happy with the defending.
Inevitably there was a sense of disappointment and punctured dreams at the end, but once supporters get home and reflect on the journey they will surely feel a little different.
Just 26 years and four months ago their side was 1-0 down in an old Third Division match at Hereford and facing relegation from the Football League, and almost certain financial ruin. A goal from Robbie Reinelt saved them from oblivion that day but the way back has not been easy.
The Goldstone Ground, their home for 95 years, was sold and the team forced to play at Gillingham’s Priestfield 65 miles away - and it took until July 2011 when the Amex was unveiled, for them to eventually play a home game in their own stadium. Fast forward to 2023 and it’s a very different picture. The Seagulls sit fifth in the Premier League, having beaten Manchester United 3-1 at Old Trafford last weekend, and became the first English debutant in Europe since Wigan back in 2013.
AEK’s Djibril Sidibe quietened the crowd briefly with a remarkable header from the edge of the box following a clever out-swinging corner in just the 11th minute, as the visitors went ahead.
But when you have been through what Brighton have endured there is no need to panic, and they fought back. James Milner, playing the 117th European game of his career, kept them steady and Albion fans only had to look at Barcelona wonderkid Ansu Fati playing up front on his debut to realise this was not 1997 anymore.
Sidibe did, however, have a chance to make it 2-0, dragging a shot wastefully wide when clean through, before Albion came to life, with Fati forcing AEK goalkeeper Stankovic into a fine save.
The first turning point came when Joao Pedro was clearly fouled in the box. Referee Kristo Tohver bizarrely booked the Brighton man – before VAR intervened and a penalty was awarded.
The striker, signed from Watford this summer, duly scored Brighton’s first ever goal in Europe for 1-1.
The home side’s lack of defensive cohesion cost them again before half-time, however. With neither Igor or Jan-Paul van Hecke looking convincing in Dunk’s absence, a routine free-kick rebounded off the latter before the ball was somehow turned home by Mijat Gacinovic.
Perhaps De Zerbi’s decision to make seven changes after Old Trafford was looking dubious.
It took another penalty to get them level. Woeful Estonian referee Tohver again waving away claims when Joao Pedro was hacked down by Damian Symanski for the second time, only to be directed by VAR to change his mind in the 65th minute. Again, the Brazilian took control, choosing the opposite side of the net as he coolly drove the ball home.
It seemed as though the fairy tale was sent for the ultimate happy ending, but Ponce took that dream away with his late winner - and even a flurry of late chances for Brighton could not change the result.
Time, perhaps, for the Seagulls to take a breath and take stock of where they have come from.
Their next test is how to cope with constantly playing three games in a week when they face Bournemouth here on Sunday (with both Dunk and Ferguson expected to return) and then travel to Chelsea in the EFL Cup midweek and to Aston Villa the following weekend.
It’s a tough schedule, but you won’t hear Albion fans complaining about that – or, you hope, about losing in a five-goal thriller in Europe. Especially not those who were there at Hereford back in 1997.
Steele 6; Milner 6 (Lamptey 55; 7), van Hecke 6, Igor 6, Estupinan 7; March 6, Gilmour 7 (Buonanotte 86; 6), Mitoma 6 (Adingra 86; 6); Gross 7, Ansu Fati 7; Joao Pedro 9 (Welbeck 82; 7) Unused subs: Verbruggen, Webster, Dahoud, Baleba, Veltman, McGill, Hinshelwood
Stankovic 7; Sidibe 7, Mitoglou 6, Szymanski 4, Hajisafi 6 ( Mohammadi 61; 6); Jensson 7; Pineda 6 (Mantalos 79; 6), Gacinovic 7 (Eliasson 79; 6), N Ambrabat 7; Araujo 6 (Zuber 68 6) Garcia 6 (Ponce 68; 7) Unused subs: Rota, Galanopoulos, Athanasiadis, Pizarro, Theocharis.
Kristo Tohver
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