Trossard teaches Brentford harsh truth of life at top
ENSCONCED in shade, hidden in plain sight among the Brighton support, chairman Tony Bloom was suddenly engulfed by bedlam and a flurry of limbs. Down below, in the visitors’ dugout, Graham Potter’s emotions were slightly more in check. Perhaps because he has been on the rough end of many afternoons like this as Brighton boss.
He has felt the sort of puncture that sucked the air out of three corners of this ground as the clock ticked into minute 90. His side has learnt the lesson of not taking chances more harshly than most.
Yesterday, though, it was Brighton’s turn to twist the knife and end Brentford’s unbeaten start in the top flight.
Potter pointed to the resilience his side showed to stay in a match when they were second best for long periods. So he should. They made that hard work count at the death, when substitute Alexis Mac Allister drove towards the Brentford area and fed Leandro Trossard, who curled home the game’s only goal.
They had to wait until January for a third win last season. For all the fine football Potter has brought, it is sound foundations underpinning this fine start. It is now 11 Premier League clean sheets in 2021 — only Chelsea and Manchester City can match that.
‘You have to suffer at times,’ said Potter. ‘In the end, the margins went in our favour with Leo’s brilliance — we’re delighted.’
He added: ‘Sometimes people want answers to things but football is just that beautiful game. Last year the performance levels were good but we just didn’t get the points and that can happen, especially in the Premier League.’
This was a sickener for Brentford. They were excellent in the first half, with Ivan Toney causing havoc alongside Bryan Mbeumo.
But punishment invariably follows profligacy at this level.
‘It’s always a tough one to take when someone scores in the 90th minute,’ said manager Thomas Frank. ‘We gave four shots away, that’s a top defensive performance. I can’t praise the players enough.’
Plenty to build on, Frank insisted, but it would have hurt hearing those Brighton fans singing about an upcoming tour of Europe. Earlier in the day, chairman Bloom had posed for selfies and been serenaded. He resisted invitations to sing the fans a song, preferring to analyse the early returns on his latest investment — the debut of £15million left back Marc Cucurella.
The Spain international was part of a backline that stood firm amid a flurry of first-half chances. Toney went close from 40 yards and combined well with Mbeumo.
The Frenchman flashed a shot over from Toney’s cut-back before spurning a second opening following a neat dummy from his strike partner. A hole was blown in Brighton’s rearguard when Adam Webster was forced off injured before Mbeumo and Vitaly Janelt both went close.
Brighton had their own first-half openings, the clearest made by Trossard for Danny Welbeck, whose shot was saved. They improved after the break with Mac Allister providing more attacking thrust and then finding Trossard for the winner.