{"id":9410,"date":"2024-04-07T11:31:54","date_gmt":"2024-04-07T10:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=9410"},"modified":"2024-04-08T22:05:20","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T21:05:20","slug":"how-to-silence-the-seagulls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=9410","title":{"rendered":"How to Silence the Seagulls"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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So, on a typical April day of sunshine and showers we were off to Brighton. We had never been to the Amex stadium, indeed my last visit to see Brighton at home had been when I was about 10 and my parents were visiting friends who lived there. No idea who the opponents were. The ground in those days was the Goldstone Ground<\/a> which has long since been knocked down. There is very little parking round the Amex (which is in the middle of nowhere in a University complex in Falmer although with excellent train facilities back to the City) and most folk use the various Park & Rides. I had heard that it took a long time after the game to get out of those, so I booked a parking space which looked reasonable about 1.2 miles away. Big error. This was a BRIGHTON 1.2 miles which meant it went up and down like a fiddlers elbow and when we got to the ground (which took 45 minutes) my back was in spasm. Park and Ride for me next time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we got to the Amex it proved to be a tidy little ground with a capacity of about 31k and with some pleasing curves rather than being box like. The booking Gods had placed us in row A, which actually were excellent seats, just to one side of the goal. Now although I sit in row 9 in the North Bank, this was really close to the players and, as they warmed up, I was able to see up close what a big and imposing set of lads we now have in the team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Rice, \u01fedegaard, Saka, Havertz, Jes\u00fas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A chorus of \u201cSussex by the sea\u201d and we were off. Both sides made a lively start. There were chances missed by Gabriel (in the first minute), Saka, and Jes\u00fas. The latter also forced a fine save from Verbruggen from a different effort. But, just on the half hour, the pressure paid off. The ball reached Jes\u00fas on the left hand side. He ran at Lamptey, who swung a foot at him, just touching the ball, but taking out both Jes\u00fas\u2019s legs in the process. Penalty given and confirmed. The whole world and his wife agreed it was a penalty, including the Brighton manager, but excluding (so I hear, I haven\u2019t seen it) Lee Dixon on a US commentary. \u01fedegaard stood on the spot, as is his wont, before handing the ball to Saka, who tucked it away to the goalkeepers right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

33 mins, Brighton 0-1 Arsenal (Saka, pen)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To their credit, Brighton came back strongly and Enciso forced a fine save from Raya, with a loopy, curling shot headed for the top corner. We were so close you could hear the thump of glove on ball as, at full stretch, Raya\u2019s outstretched hand tipped it over the bar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HT: Brighton 0-1 Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the second half we assumed total control. There was a chance for \u01fedegaard after being set up by the superb White (who seemed a bit feistier than normal as he played his old club). Brighton lost the ball in our half. Jorginho made ground, then moved it inside to White, who passed to \u01fedegaard. Jorginho meanwhile was pointing to a patch of unattended grass in the penalty area roughly the size of Hove and sprinting towards it. He got the ball back, ran along the goal line (when did we ever see Jorginho on the by-line?)  before producing a perfect cut back for Havertz to bundle the ball into the net. Cue massive limbs, numerous renditions of \u201cWaka, Waka\u2026\u201d and man-hugs galore from the boys in green. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

62 minutes, Brighton 0-2 Arsenal (Havertz)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Various subs then occurred (Martinelli and Trossard (roundly booed) for Jes\u00fas and Saka, then a few minutes later, Tomiyasu for Zinchenko). Arsenal were now in complete control of the game as Brighton\u2019s heads dropped and we finally administered the coup de grace<\/em> in the 86th<\/sup> minute. Brighton again lost the ball in our half, Havertz cleverly played in Trossard, in his own half, who ran half the length of the field before sitting down the goalkeeper and chipping it over him for a great finish. More massive limbs in the away end. Trossard stood, in the arena of his former employers, arms spread wide, drinking in the enmity of the Brighton fans, who promptly started leaving for home (cue \u201cEverywhere we go, stadiums are empty!\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

86 mins, Brighton 0-3 Arsenal (Trossard)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More subs: Vieira  (to loud cheers from California) and Eddie for \u01fedegaard and MOTM Havertz. The only other thing of note was in added time when Gabriel blocked a shot Adams-like from Pedro and he, Trossard, Raya and Saliba celebrated preserving the clean sheet like he had just scored the winner in a World Cup final. These guys!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FT: Brighton 0-3 Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brighton had not been beaten at home since August and had not conceded a goal at home for five games. A magnificent performance where Havertz, \u01fedegaard, White and, of course, Gabriel and Saliba were fantastic. There was one move in the first half when Saliba, five yards from us and facing his own goal, put the attacker on his arse, interchanged a series of passes with team mates, before we set off upfield and almost scored. What a goal that would have been!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A word about the away support. We filled the whole of the South stand behind the goal and were light-years away from the (rare) insipid crowd at the Emirates vs Luton last week. Very loud, multiple songs, incredible limbs and jostling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back, finally, after going up hill and down dale again, in the car, we indulged ourselves with a first away curry since Nottingham Forest. It was in Burgess Hill, just North of Brighton. Is there anything like that first sip of ice cold Cobra on a parched throat? Back onto empty motorways and home by 11.45pm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What an away day! Now, who\u2019s coming up next?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, on a typical April day of sunshine and showers we were off to Brighton. We had never been to the Amex stadium, indeed my last visit to see Brighton at home had been when I was about 10 and my parents were visiting friends who lived there. No idea who the opponents were. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9410"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9410"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9430,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9410\/revisions\/9430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}