Bizarre own goals put Brighton title on ice
Brighton boss Chris Hughton had words of sympathy for goalkeeper David Stockdale after he inadvertently took centre stage in last night’s 2-0 defeat at Norwich which put the Seagulls’ Sky Bet Championship title aspirations on hold.
Their match at Carrow Road was settled in truly bizarre fashion as two unfortunate own goals from Stockdale sunk the recently-promoted visitors.
Twice in the first half Stockdale dived to try and save well-struck shots from outside the area from Alex Pritchard – and twice the ball thumped against the woodwork and rebounded back into the net off the back of the stopper.
Two excellent strikes from the man who nearly joined Brighton last year before opting for Norwich had to go down to the man between the sticks – and the efforts in the 18th and 38th minutes ended up settling a match that the Canaries deserved to win, despite not having an effort on target in the entire game.
“That’s not something I have ever seen before,” said Hughton, whose side still need a win from their final two games to guarantee the title, having clinched promotion on Easter Monday.
“It happens to keepers from time to time, but not usually twice in one game. Obviously there is no blame attached to David at all – he was just trying to make the saves and the ball just came back off him.
“What I’d say is that we were punished for allowing the player to get his shot away by not closing him down on the edge of the box. Norwich have got a lot of quality in their side and when that happens you are asking for trouble.
“Overall, I would say that Norwich deserved the win over the 90 minutes. They made if difficult for us and we were not really on our game tonight, which is disappointing.”
Brighton can still win the title by beating Bristol City at the Amex Stadium next weekend, while a defeat for Newcastle – seven points behind with three games to go – against Preston on Monday would also settle the issue.
“Obviously this has been an emotional week for everyone connected with the club but – after the celebrations – the feeling in the camp was that we wanted to complete the job here,” Hughton added.
“Whether what has happened affected us out there or whether we just had an off night I don’t know but I would certainly have taken being in this position at the start of the season.
“We still have two games to get the points we need – and, who knows, Newcastle could also drop points so I am not complaining.”
Norwich interim boss Alan Irvine was delighted with his side’s showing. He said: “A few weeks ago we hadn’t beaten a side above us all season – now we have beaten three of them and that is very pleasing.
“I really like Chris (Hughton) and I hope he’ll be celebrating winning the title next week – but I didn’t want him celebrating tonight.”