Brighton took on Huddersfield Town in the Amex Stadium on a day where three points for either side could have gone a long way in ensuring that they lived to fight for another season in the English top flight.
A win for Brighton would have taken them nine clear of the drop zone, and likewise Huddersfield could have gone six ahead of Southampton in 18th.
Both sides lined up in a 4-4-1-1 formation, with creators-in-chief Pascal Groβ and Alex Pritchard lining up just behind Glenn Murray and Steve Mounie respectively, with neither manager swaying too much from the expected XI.
Brighton started off brightly, but Huddersfield grew into the game and started creating some chances down their left flank, with Mounie heavily involved. Huddersfield had gone four games without finding the back of the net, but they showed real intent on breaking that deadlock at the Amex.
The first big chance of the game fell to Davy Propper, when a lobbed ball from Schelotto put him clean through on goal. However, the Hudderfield centre halves were able to get back and put just enough pressure on the Dutchman for him to steer his shot wide of the goalpost.
It was against the run of play when Solly March was allowed just enough freedom to drift in a bit from the right flank and unleash a shot, which clearly caught Jonas Lossl a bit by surprise, and the fact that it came through bodies didn’t help the goalkeeper, for he was unable to make up the ground to his near post in time, a fact which resulted in Brighton taking the lead from an unfortunate ricochet involving the woodwork and the back of the Danish goalie’s head.
However, Brighton’s jubilation was short lived, for just seconds after kickoff, Shane Duffy’s attempt to be overly intricate against the press resulted in him misdirecting a back pass straight to Steve Mounie, who was not going to miss the chance presented to him on a silver platter.
After that exciting spell of a minute and a half, and game took a turn for pragmatism over exhilaration, with neither side looking to force the issue. Dale Stevens had a good shot at goal from a well weighted layoff, but Jonas Lossl was equal to it.
For the second game running, Brighton were involved in a sending off incident, this team their player on the receiving end of the card. Davy Propper went in for a 50-50 challenge, but with his studs showing after the ball had been played by his Huddersfield counterpart, there was only one decision to be made; what colour the card was going to be; and the correct call was made by referee Anthony Taylor.
Embed from Getty ImagesDespite the sending off, it was the hosts who had a chance to nick the 3 points when Jose Izqueirdo was put through on goal, but Lossl was off his line very quickly, and ensured that Izquierdo was unable to get a proper shot away.
The 1-1 draw leaves Brighton seven points clear of Southampton, who play on Sunday, but Huddersfield are only four clear of the Saints, having played, at the time of writing, two games more. A little luck and some more work on the pitch will be needed if David Wagner’s men are to ply their trade in the Premier League next season.
Written by Ayush Verma.
17. Aspiring journalist, and passionate about all things football, all things FIFA, and most things music. Analysis writer for 90MAAT.
