Brighton let off the hook by Mariappa’s moment of madness
Not many own goals this season will be dispatched with the utter certainty that Adrian Mariappa directed the ball into his net as time ticked down here and it looked like another bad evening for Brighton and Hove Albion.
The relegation fight does strange things to professional footballers, the only explanation for Mariappa’s unusually decisive connection with a cross from substitute Alireza Jahanbakhsh in what was shaping up to be Nigel Pearson’s fifth win at Watford.
On the bench, the expletive from the Watford manager was evident, even for those without an aptitude for lip-reading. His team remain 19th, a point behind Aston Villa, two places ahead, who have played one game fewer, and Watford are now without a win in their past four league games after an impressive start under Pearson. They might have won this game in the first half when a fine goal from Abdoulaye Doucoure gave them the lead and the home side, with problems of their own, could not seem to get into the game.
Brighton are still without a win in the six league games since the turn of the year, but it could have been so much worse without the intervention of Mariappa. Manager Graham Potter saw his team overrun in the first half and responded with three changes that forced his side to be more competitive.
Potter said he was proud of the manner in which his team had stayed in the match. “When you go behind at home, things get edgy and that makes the environment more challenging and we have to create something and score.”
He was “delighted with the spirit”, although the mood in the stadium was less forgiving at times. They had all the possession, although so few of the chances that matter.
Pearson certainly thought his team were in control until Mariappa’s intervention after 78 minutes. His view was that Brighton might have had the ball, but they were doing precious little with it. “Sometimes your eyes can fool you,” he said to a question about whether he might have made a substitution before the last eight minutes of regulation time. In spite of their rebirth under their new manager, Pearson’s team have dropped 17 points from winning positions in the league this season, including eight in their past three games.
“It’s unfortunate” was his view of the Mariappa own goal. “Balls like that [across the box] are very difficult to deal with. You have to try to deal with it. Although if he misses, it’s probable they don’t get anyone on the end of it.”
His team had been more intense in the first half and pounced when the opportunity came but, the more they fell back, the more tired they looked.
It was Potter who made the changes, having begun with Glenn Murray in attack, preferred to Neal Maupay, who was one of three early second-half substitutes. Then, Potter switched to a more conventional 4-4-2, with Maupay partnering Murray and shuffled the team more than once.
Pearson said he would spend some of the break out walking, as he likes to do, this time on Dartmoor, where he will reflect on his 10 league games in charge. His team have been sucked back into the relegation zone and a trip to Old Trafford is their next stop in two weeks’ time, when they hope Ismaila Sarr will be available again after injury.
The goal was evidence of the quality that Pearson has acknowledged is in this Watford squad, a run and strike that was met by the manager with an expression of delighted disbelief.
It had been a tremendous run from Doucoure, taking the ball off Aaron Mooy, turning on his heel and then accelerating away, but the quality of the finish was what made the difference. It was a clean connection with his right foot, across Mat Ryan and into the far corner, struck so sweetly that there never seemed any doubt about the destination. Doucoure had been one of a number among the away side, including Etienne Capoue, who had taken charge of the game in the first half.
“For the first 20 minutes we were doing OK, then they score,” Potter said. “The atmosphere changes, and we had to huff and puff and make sure we didn’t concede again.”
After his substitutions, including the introduction of Steven Alzate, Brighton’s best chance of the match was created by Maupay’s ball through to Mooy after 76 minutes, which Ben Foster saved well. Then came Mariappa’s mistake and Brighton had secured their point, although even as they pushed for a first win of 2020, there was never any great conviction from their support that they could do it.
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League goals Abdoulaye Doucoure has been directly involved in since Nigel Pearson’s arrival in December, scoring three times and providing an assist. He had been involved in just one goal this season up until that point.