A raft of injuries didn’t prevent Brighton from completing a famous UEFA Europa League double over Ajax in the week, and it took just six minutes for Simon Adingra to extinguish any worries regarding the lack of a recognised striker.
The Ivorian burst forward to take on multiple defenders, exchanging an ingenious one-two with Facundo Buonanotte before smashing in off Wes Foderingham’s near post.
The south coast side looked a different team to the one who had failed to record a win since late September as they continued to dominate, even if Ansu Fati was unable to beat Foderingham one-on-one.
Still, undeterred by their bottom-of-the-pile status and inspired by last weekend’s dramatic winner after 100 minutes of play against Wolves, the visitors had hope of forging a way back into the match.
Cameron Archer – who had been a mere spectator during the opening exchanges – began to see more of the ball, but the division’s lowest scorers would need a significant improvement in their attacking craft to overturn the scoreline, and perhaps put a stop to their 100% losing record on the road this season.
Attempting to guard against any complacency after performance levels dropped heading into the break, Roberto De Zerbi introduced Kaoru Mitoma and João Pedro to the lineup at HT, and the latter almost made an instant impact with his curling effort.
Mitoma was also proving a nuisance, but Sheffield United were gifted a route back into the game when Dahoud was shown a red card for a heinous stamp on Ben Osborn.
That was the first dismissal of De Zerbi’s 14-month tenure at the Amex, and his players showed their unease as the visitors hit back almost immediately.
Gustavo Hamer threaded through Jayden Bogle, who did brilliantly to pass across goal and force Adam Webster to turn into his own net, meaning both sides have scored in each of Brighton’s first 12 PL matches this season – the longest such streak to start the season since Liverpool more than half a century ago.
Paul Heckingbottom’s side looked the most likely to snatch a winner, but the spoils were shared to rapturous applause in the away end.
Progress on the road for Sheffield United, while the result extends Brighton’s run without a PL win to six matches.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Simon Adingra (Brighton & Hove Albion)
