| Brighton and Hove Albion 0 v 0 Ipswich Town FA Premier League Saturday, 14th September 2024 Kick-off 15:00 |  |
Brighton & Hove Albion 0-0 Ipswich Town - Match Report Saturday, 14th Sep 2024 17:04 Town secured their first away point of the season as they battled to a hard-fought 0-0 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium. Blues keeper Aro Muric made a superb double save as the Seagulls dominated the first half, while Liam Delap went closest to scoring for Town when he struck the post after the break. Town made two changes from the 1-1 home draw a fortnight ago with Wes Burns and Dara O’Shea coming into the XI. O’Shea made his Blues full league debut on the right of the central defensive duo alongside Jacob Greaves with Luke Woolfenden left out of the 20-man squad. Burns returned from his hamstring injury and came in on the right of the three behind striker Delap with Chiedozie Ogbene on the bench. Omari Hutchinson was in the centre of the three with Sammie Szmodics on the left. George Hirst was back in the squad on the bench following his knee injury, while former Blues defender Adam Webster was among the subs for Brighton. The Seagulls made two changes from the team which drew 1-1 at Arsenal before the international break with Joao Pedro and James Milner dropping out due to injury and Georginio Rutter and Yasin Ayari coming into the team. Town made a bright start with O’Shea playing an early ball wide for Burns, who crossed deep from the right and reached Leif Davis beyond the far post but the left-back was unable to get it under control. But Brighton quickly began to see most of the ball and in the fourth minute forced Muric into his first stop of the game. Blues skipper Sam Morsy had been unable to clear from the edge of the box and Carlos Baleba seized upon it and struck a low shot to Muric’s left which the Kosovo international saved well with a strong arm and grabbed at the second attempt. On seven, Morsy was shown the game’s first yellow card for a late tackle on Ayari not too far inside the Town half, the Egyptian international’s third yellow card in four matches so far this season. The game was held up in the 14th minute for Hutchinson to receive treatment to what looked like a hip problem having been caught by Baleba’s knee as he turned away from the Cameroonian international, referee Sam Barrott failing to award a foul, much to the annoyance of the Town players and manager Kieran McKenna on the touchline. The Seagulls were continuing to dominate possession with the Blues struggling to play their way through Brighton’s press but with the home side having been unable to turn their time on the ball into chances. On 24, a Brighton corner from the left flashed across the area with Szmodics missing his clearing header at the near post appearing to have wrong-footed the players of both teams behind him. A minute later, Kaoru Mitoma’s low ball from the left caught a heel on its way over, diverting it behind Rutter, who otherwise would have had a simple opportunity to score. The Blues were at this stage under the cosh somewhat with Davis making a saving intervention in a central position on the edge of the six-yard box, then Danny Welbeck and Mitoma exchanged passes but the ball was overhit through to Muric. As the game moved towards the half-hour mark, Morsy played a cross-field pass which reached Szmodics breaking inside on the left. The former Blackburn man took a touch but sent his shot well wide of Bart Verbruggen’s left post and the flag was raised in any case. On 32, Yankuba Minteh stood up a deep cross from the right, Welbeck nodded down and Muric saved at his post, again grabbing at the second attempt. Three minutes later, Muric was in action again making a superb double save. Rutter was superbly played in on the right of the area, cut inside and struck a shot which Muric blocked out to his right. Mitoma followed up but Muric had got back to his feet to save again, this time with his chest. The ball bounced back out to the Japanese international, but this time his effort flew across goal much to the relief of the Town fans behind the goal, cheering and singing their keeper’s praises. Muric was nominated for August’s Save of the Month award for a stop from Erling Haaland and will have an even better chance of winning September’s gong. That was the last action of a half which had for long spells resembled an attack-v-defence training game with Brighton dominating. Davis had made a number of interceptions and challenges down the left in a well-contested battle with Minteh, while Greaves and O’Shea had made several strong tackles. But it was the performance of Muric, who last season allowed a backpass under his foot and into the net against Brighton for Burnley, which had done most to keep the scoreline level at the break, showing why Town paid £8 million for him over the summer. In addition to his stunning double save, the Kosovan had made other stops and had caught several crosses with confidence. The second half began following the same pattern as the first with Baleba shooting wide in the opening minute. Two minutes in, Minteh was yellow-carded for a foul on Davis. On 49, Brighton cut through the Blues from the back, Minteh eventually crossing from the right. The ball was headed out to Rutter, whose goal-bound shot was blocked by O’Shea. Two minutes later, Kalvin Phillips was booked for bringing down Ayari as the Brighton man bore down on the area. Welbeck curled the resultant free-kick only just wide of Muric’s left post. From the goal-kick, Brighton picked the ball up almost immediately, Rutter shooting wide. The Seagulls had upped the tempo since the break with Town struggling to keep the ball or maintain the same pressure on the ball as in the first half. However, in the 54th minute, they went close to going in front. Delap picked the ball up in his own half on the right and drove forward, pacing his way past Jan Paul van Hecke and taking it into the area before hitting a shot across Verbruggen which hit the outside of the far post. As Town readied their first subs, Hutchinson was booked for jumping into Brighton skipper Lewis Dunk. The Blues made those changes on 59, Burns, Delap and Szmodics making way for Ogbene, Hirst and Jack Clarke. Ogbene was quickly into action, Seagulls left-back Jack Hinshelwood picking up a yellow card for a pull on the Irish international. The Blues were far more in the increasingly open game as an attacking force following the changes and on 64 won their first corner of the game, but with Verbruggen claiming Davis’s ball from the right with ease. After a Clarke burst forward down the left had ended with Hutchinson being flagged offside, Brighton made three changes, Julio Enciso, Ferdi Kadioglu and Simon Adingra taking over from Rutter, Hinshelwood, Minteh. Encisco hit a low shot from just outside the area to Muric’s right soon after being introduced, the keeper saving comfortably. On 70, Clarke brought the ball forward on the left and exchanged passes with Hirst but sent his effort well into the Town supporters behind the goal. Three minutes later, Hutchinson broke away following a Brighton corner, taking the ball to the edge of the area before hitting a low shot which failed to trouble Verbruggen. As the match moved into its final 10 minutes, Dunk walloped a free-kick straight at the Town wall after Morsy had perhaps been fortunate not to have been shown a second yellow card for a trip just outside the area. In the 82nd minute, Mitoma brought the ball in from the left but scuffed his shot through to Muric, who had been forced into fewer heroics in the second half. Two minutes later, the Blues swapped Morsy, who was at risk of a second booking, and Hutchinson, who was feeling his earlier injury, for Massimo Luongo and Conor Chaplin. Brighton introduced one-time Town loan target Evan Ferguson for Welbeck. Moments later, Joel Veltman was booked for hauling back Clarke. In the penultimate scheduled minute, Ferguson turned away from Luongo just outside the area but sent his shot wide of Muric’s left post. The fourth official’s board indicating three additional minutes was greeted by boos from the home support and cheers from their Town counterparts. Muric punched away a Brighton corner two minutes into time added on, then three subsequent shots were blocked before Chaplin was pulled back giving the Blues’ backline some respite. Moments before the whistle, a Seagulls free-kick on the left was cleared to Baleba, whose shot was blocked. There was a cheer at the whistle from the Town support, the Blues having secured as hard-fought an away point as you’ll see. Brighton were almost totally dominant in the first half and but for resolute defending and Muric’s excellence in goal, the game could have been all over at that stage. Aside from Delap’s solo effort off the post, the Blues showed little going forward until the subs came on just before the hour but with Verbruggen never seriously tested, while Brighton put the pressure on again in the latter stages but with Muric and his defenders remaining steadfast to see out the point and first clean sheet since the return to the top flight against a very good Seagulls side, who look likely to finish in the top half of the division, probably higher. Muric will be most people’s man of the match for his first-half saves, while Tuanzebe, O’Shea, Greaves and Davis in front of him all put in determined displays and Phillips swept up innumerable balls in front of them. A welcome second point in two games sees the Blues remain fourth bottom of the table ahead of next week’s trip to fellow Premier League new boys Southampton. Town: Muric, Tuanzebe, O’Shea, Greaves, Davis, Morsy (c) (Luongo 84), Phillips, Burns (Ogbene 59), Hutchinson (Chaplin 84), Szmodics (J Clarke 59), Delap (Hirst 59). Unused: Walton, Johnson, Townsend, Cajuste. Brighton: Verbruggen, Dunk (c), Rutter (Enciso 68), Minteh (Adingra 68), Welbeck (Ferguson 84), Baleba, Mitoma, Ayari, Van Hecke, Veltman, Hinshelwood (Kadioglu 68). Unused: Steele, Igor, Webster, Moder, Estupinan. Referee: Sam Barrott (West Riding). VAR: Michael Salisbury (Lancashire).
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