Leandro Trossard’s winner in the 55th minute means Brighton have a taken a huge step in their quest for survival. They took their chances against a below-par Southampton which is normally the Seagulls’ Achilles heel. Brighton took the lead from Lewis Dunk’s header, but the lead was cut short by a well-taken goal from Che Adams. Trossard’s winner meant that the 2-1 victory puts Brighton three points above of safety.
Brighton travelled to St Marys in desperate need of three points as they sat in 17th place above Fulham only on goal difference. The Seagulls came into this game off the back of three successive defeats which has found them in a real relegation battle. Whereas Southampton picked up a vital three points away at Sheffield United last weekend, after they were going through a torrid run of form of being winless in their previous nine games.
The Saints were once again without their top goal scorer, Danny Ings, which would have been welcoming news to Brighton as he was the difference in the last outing between the two teams, when Brighton temporarily welcomed back fans into their stadium for the first time in December.
Brighton took the lead in the 16th minute through an out-swinging corner from Pascal Groß which was met by a powerful, bullet header from captain Lewis Dunk. No VAR controversy this time for Dunk after all the drama that took place a couple weeks ago against West Brom. Dunk is now the leading goal scorer out of all central defenders since he made his debut in 2017.
10 minutes after Brighton took the lead, Southampton started to take control, and this resulted in an equaliser in the 26th minute. A flick-on by Ryan Bertrand was met by a volley by Che Adams, who has now scored three in his last three games.
In the 41st minute, Brighton’s attacking woes continued with their lack of clinical edge, after great work from Dan Burn who had made a surging run from left back to tee up Groß, who had his shot saved by Fraser Forster who has returned as Southampton’s no.1 keeper.
In the 55th minute, Brighton restored their advantage. A superb free-flowing move was finished of by Belgian, Leandro Trossard after a clever lay off from Danny Welbeck. There was a beaming smile from Graham Potter on the touchline which was potentially also a sigh of relief, after seeing his team score more than once for the first time In 11.
A huge chance went begging for the Saints on the hour mark when referee, Stuart Attwell, played advantage after a foul on the edge on the box. The ball fell to Adams who had the chance to double his tally for the day but was met by a massive save by Robert Sanchez. Attwell pulled the play back to the foul and gave the chance to set-piece specialist, James Ward-Prowse to add his name on the scoresheet. However, the Brighton wall stood firm and was enough to deflect the chance away for a corner.
Southampton struggled to create any meaningful chances and became increasingly sloppy in their play which led to manager, Ralph Hassenhutl, visibly showing his displeasure at the way his team was playing.
Brighton defended resolutely and Southampton were unable to come up with an answer for the remainder of the game. Brighton brought on Davy Pröpper and Jakub Moder to solidify the midfield and see the game out, which they did successfully.
Lewis Dunk praised his team and described it as a: “Proper Performance”.
Brighton will host Newcastle next weekend in a huge relegation clash as both teams are separated by only one point. Brighton will hope to continue their momentum and steer themselves out of the danger zone. Southampton still have FA Cup duty to take of next week, away at Bournemouth.