Just about summarises Brighton’s season
Brighton fell victim to VAR controversy in their 1-0 defeat to 19th placed West Bromwich Albion on Saturday afternoon, but they can have no complaints at the full time result.
Poor finishing has defined the Seagulls’ season this term, as Graham Potter’s side so often dominate possession, play attractive patterns, rack up a high xG, but can’t seem to finish.
And that lack of killer instinct once again saw them drop points against a team who basically never attack.
First, Kyle Bartley put the home side ahead after 11 minutes, heading in a corner – a goal that Brighton will be frustrated by, given there is no shortage of giants in their defensive line.
Then Pascal Groß hit the bar from a penalty. There’s not much else to say about that, he should have kept it down.
On no! 😲
Pascal Gross rattles the crossbar from the penalty spot and Brighton's troubles in front of goal continue!
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What followed was five minutes of confusion, as captain Lewis Dunk took a quick free kick, but had his goal chalked off after a long VAR check. Lee Mason came under scrutiny for his handling of the situation, which is still unclear. It appears that the decision not to allow the goal relates to when the referee blew his whistle for the second time, as the ball was crossing the line.
Here is the full incident that saw Lewis Dunk’s free kick chalked off.
An absolute mess from start to finish pic.twitter.com/xo7kXGLIVT
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) February 27, 2021
Then with 10 minutes to go, the visitors won another penalty. Slightly soft this time, as Townsend appeared to get a chunk of the ball but was deemed to have fouled Groß.
Substitute Danny Welbeck stepped up to take it, but struck the post this time.
❌❌ Brighton are the first team to fail with 2 penalties in the same PL game since Man Utd (v Norwich) in October 2019 pic.twitter.com/JLFDZjIn0Z
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) February 27, 2021
Brighton continued to apply pressure but the Baggies were in their element, defending with 10 men behind the ball, plugging every gap, putting their bodies on the line.
As Sam Allardyce once said, “all this tippy tappy stuff everybody keeps going on about the right way to play football is all a load of bollocks sometimes.
