MATCH FACTS MAUP-A-DOPE KNOCKOUT! Glass-jaw Gunners chinned again
ELLIOT SIMOES struck early to raise Barnsley’s hopes of escaping relegation with the only goal of the game.
The South Yorkshire club had slumped to bottom spot in the Championship before the shutdown.
But they showed plenty of fight as they got the better of the first half before withstanding a QPR second-half bombardment to move above Luton Town at the foot of the table.
Tykes boss Gerhard Struber said: “It was not a big surprise that Elliot gave a big performance, he is a talent and this is what we want from him.
“Our spirit and energy against a massive opponent today was great – we showed character and never gave up. The mood in the dressing room is great and this performance gives every player confidence.”
QPR manager Mark Warburton said: “I thought we were really poor for the first 45 minutes.
“Second half we were much better but still 6.5 out of 10. Still no shots on goal. As a team we let ourselves down today.”
The defeat set back the slim hopes QPR had of reaching the play-offs. While the hosts created a series of chances in the second half, even the sounds of a home crowd piped into the empty stadium could not lift them to find the back of the net.
A wonderful pass from Ben Williams set up the goal for Simoes (above) after only seven minutes.
Bright Osayi-samuel lost out in midfield to Romal Palmer, before Williams played in Simoes between QPR’S centre-backs to slot the ball past Liam Kelly.
QPR
BARNSLEY
NEAL MAUPAY added insult to injury as he piled more misery on Arsenal.
First the Frenchman gave Bernd Leno a naughty nudge late in the first half that led to the keeper suffering a pretty nasty-looking knee injury.
The German was furious with the Brighton striker and jabbed an angry finger at him, accompanied by some industrial language, as he left the field on a stretcher.
Maupay then rocked up in the fifth minute of added time on the south coast to settle the match in Brighton’s favour – and give Graham Potter’s side a huge boost in their battle against relegation.
But his celebrations were deemed over the top by Leno’s pals, with Sead Kolasinac and Matteo Guendouzi in particular having to be restrained as they made their feelings known to the Seagulls star at the final whistle.
Arsenal had taken the lead through Nicolas Pepe (inset) midway through the second half – a lovely curling effort beating Matty Ryan in the Brighton goal.
It was the first and last contribution of any note from the Frenchman – who cost the north London club £72million from Lille last August – in an otherwise anonymous display.
Still, that goal looked like it might give Arsenal a lift of their own after their convincing defeat by Manchester City on Wednesday and send a message to their Europa League rivals.
But Brighton weren’t done, with Ryan keeping them in the game with a string of saves, and when Lewis Dunk stabbed home from close range with 15 minutes to go they suddenly scented blood.
Even so, as the clock ticked into the fifth minute of secondhalf stoppage time, with only three minutes originally given, Potter’s men appeared to have left it too late.
Maupay had other ideas. And when Solly
March fed the ball to his fellow substitute
Aaron
Connolly, his little flick round the corner freed the French striker and Maupay rammed his shot home.
What a good result for Brighton, and how vindicated chief executive Paul Barber and owner Tony Bloom must now feel in pressing for neutral venues to be set aside, given the importance of being able to play top teams – and even those who used to be top teams – at home.
The Seagulls still have both Manchester clubs and Liverpool to come calling in Sussex.
They now face a tough away game at Leicester. They will be without Dan Burn through suspension for the trip to the Midlands and Potter knows there is still work to be done.
But make no mistake, this was a big win for the club and they are now within touching distance of another season in the Premier League.
Unlike most of the other restart games that had come before this one, it began at a decent pace and Bukayo Saka made his intentions clear with an excellent early effort. He stepped inside and curled a right-foot shot past Ryan but it rattled the bar and Brighton got away with that one.
Ryan then made a lovely save to deny Alex Lacazette, one of five changes to Arsenal’s starting line-up from midweek, getting down well to keep out a header from Saka’s cross. Arsenal’s injury woes worsened when Maupay barged into Leno – a challenge he did not need to make with the ball comfortably in the keeper’s possession. Emiliano Martinez was brought on to replace Leno and immediately saved well from Aaron Mooy.
At the other end, Ryan made three saves to keep out Pierreemerick Aubameyang, who wasn’t as lively as that makes him sound, and how important those saves looked when Dunk forced home after Arsenal failed to deal with a corner.
A point would probably have been considered a decent return but Brighton didn’t have to settle for that. Maupay was on hand at the death, to land a knockout and give the hosts their first win of 2020.
■ Brighton picked up their first league victory of 2020 (the last Premier League side to do so), while this was also the first time they’ve done the league double against Arsenal.