I said before this run of fixtures that I felt one of the so-called ‘top 4’ teams that the Albion would play in consecutive games could be there for the taking and they came incredibly close to a famous victory last night.

It was a slightly inauspicious start once again as we could have conceded within the first 2 minutes. An inviting cross by Hannah Blundell caused confusion in the box and Jorelyn Carabali cleared the ball just centimetres wide of her own goal. Barely 60 seconds later Sophie Baggaley was forced into a stunning point-blank save from Melvine Malard after the ball broke to her kindly just a few yards from goal. At that stage you had to wonder if it would be a long night for the Seagulls.

However, as the game grew and the score stayed level, Brighton grew too. United were looking to push up and exploit the flanks which meant that the counter attack was frequently on if we could move the ball quickly and get through their midfield lines. A cross from Pauline Bremer on 20 minutes nearly ended up in the back of the net as it sliced towards goal, Mary Earps looked beaten, but the crossbar saved United’s blushes. The Albion also had a succession of corners, which forced the Red Devil’s to rethink some of their aggression in coming forward.

The result came in the 30th minute when Brighton pressure in the opposition half won the possession back. With United on their heels Elisabeth Terland drifted between their centre backs, took control of a pass by Maisie Symonds and rifled a shot into the bottom left hand corner of the goal. An absolutely cracking finish by a player I’ve tipped to score 20 this season for the Albion.

Of course, with sides of this quality, you may just have awoken the beast. Initially at least the Albion coped well with being 1-0 up, but with United now needing to score, it was only some last ditch defending and the shot-stopping ability of Baggaley that kept us in the lead at the break. That felt important though, last week at Chelsea, conceding just before half-time was a massive blow, and we never really recovered from there.

The second half began much the same as the first had ended, Brighton hung on a little and sat ever deeper, which I think is ok to admit, but they also threatened themselves on the counter. It very much felt like the next goal was crucial, if the Albion could steal one then United hadn’t really shown the ruthlessness to overcome such a deficit, but if the Reds could take that one chance, then a Spurs scenario might be on. In actuality, neither came to fruition.

Manchester United did eventually capitalise on their control, but in very (very) controversial fashion. As Carabali looked to clear the ball down the right flank, Leah Galton stuck her foot in and made definite contact with the player and not the ball. With the Brighton defender sent sprawling the ball broke kindly to Galton and she set up Ella Toone to rifle a shot from distance into the top corner of the net. It was an incredible goal from Toone don’t get me wrong, but that was absolutely 100% no doubt in my mind, a foul on Carabali and the goal should never had stood. More on the referee later.

Thoughts then turned to our most recent outing at the Amex and whether we could be doomed to a similar fate, but this felt different, Brighton kept going and held their own as time ticked down. The Seagulls even fashioned a few chances of their own, in particular a dipping long-range effort from Julia Zigiotti Olme that Earps was only just able to scramble on to the bar. The addition of Veatriki Sarri on the right also began to pay dividends and she almost scored with a shot from wide that Earps again touched on to the bar and out for a corner on the 88-minute mark. From the resulting set play, Guro Bergsvand leapt like a salmon and nodded the ball home from a few yards out. Incredible scenes ensued, 2-1 up, just minutes to play, it had to be right?

By ‘had to be’ I guess I mean that it ‘had to be’ that Brighton would give up the lead again and settle for a draw in a game that – at that stage – they really should have put to bed. United won a corner in the 8th minute of stoppage time, the cross wasn’t dealt with properly by the Albion at the near post and the resulting deflection took the ball into the path of substitute Rachel Williams who made no mistake from close range. So near yet so far, perspective in the minutes following seemed to be a topic for tomorrow – which is why I write these columns the day after the game.

Overall I’d have bitten your hand off, and maybe a couple of toes, for a 2-2 draw at the start of the night. Even when United equalised in controversial style and it was 1-1 I’d have absolutely settled for the draw, but when you are 2-1 up with just extra time to see out, well…I want those three points. A lot of positive lessons to be learned, primarily that we have the ability to match these top teams, it’s not a defeat waiting to happen and of course we should be immensely proud of the performance. However, we also have to learn that you cannot switch off even for a second at this level because when you do, wins turn to draws and three points become one, in just the kick of a ball.

Notes

• Sophie Baggaley was absolutely immense one again, her shot-stopping and reflexes are next level. She was the deserved player of the match and I have to say there’s no way Evrard should be getting in the team over her in the WSL as it stands.
• Speaking of stand-out performances, Terland scoring again is an excellent sign for the Albion. Anyone concerned this was just a purple patch of form can put those fears away once and for all. Brighton have never had a player score over 8 goals in a season in the WSL, and Teri already has 5 in 5 games so far.
• The midfield looked to have more dynamism with Symonds and Zigiotti Olme in the central areas. There’s no doubt Vicky Losada is great on the ball, but so far this season the team has looked a little ponderous in the middle phase. I do think experience in playing as a unit will fix some of the cohesion issues as the season progresses.
• Katie Robinson was a little subdued in her performance. Relatively early in the game I noticed she came to the touchline and had a long conversation with Melissa Phillips which made me wonder if she could have picked up a knock of some sort. We have faith Katie, we know what an incredible player you are, just keep working hard and the results will come!
• I am still unconvinced by the three at the back formation. Although generally the centre backs played well, there was far too much space out wide for United to capitalise on and you could see they’d identified that as a weakness in the Brighton defence. On another day these gaps would certainly have led to goals.
• In general I don’t like to criticise referees, but the officiating last night was poor. It felt like a lot of the calls were pure guesses and the crowd, particularly at the United end were clearly influencing the outcome of certain decisions. At one point, after the away fans started a chant of “you don’t know what you’re doing” the referee gave every 50/50, every shoulder barge, every nudge to the Reds for a significant amount of time. I turned to my daughter and said at one point, purely for amusement, “The reffing in this game has been fair. Fair-ly crap”, and that about summed it up.
• I’ve left out the foul in the build-up to their goal, because that was a whopper of a mistake that deserves its own bullet point. Galton absolutely does not get the ball, she absolutely takes Carabali out of the game, and somehow the ref bottled it. I wonder which end of the ground that decision was made at…
• Both sides had one or two more chances which came pretty darn close to extending the goal tally, but for the sake of brevity and the fact they were fairly even for both teams I have omitted them. Don’t hate me.
• With regards to Manchester United, I thought they were decent, but Brighton dealt with them pretty well. None of their stars had particularly good games, nor were they especially poor, but I personally expected more from the likes of Geyse and Miyazawa. The fact both goalkeepers were probably their respective best players is perhaps a nod to that.