MAC MAKES MAUPAY’S BIG DAY
NEAL MAUPAY was finally able to celebrate his birthday as Brighton’s super subs lit up the striker’s candles.
It had been a nightmare start for the Frenchman who had been bullied by James Tarkowski as Burnley struck with a vengeance within two minutes.
And things appeared to be going from bad to worse for the Seagulls as Sean Dyche’s side, full of aggression and menace, were too hot to handle.
But at 1-0 up after squandering a glut of opportunities and in the knowledge that they hadn’t won at home in the Premier League since January there was a chance the jitters might set in.
When Brighton boss Graham Potter sent on substitutes Jakub Moder and Alexis Mac Allister for the final 20 minutes the landscape changed and Maupay’s birthdays all came at once.
Potter admitted: “It was a nightmare start for us. In the first half we caused our own problems. Credit the players they hung in there and we had a little bit of luck. The substitutes were very important for us.
“If you play on Burnley’s terms then it can be tough but in the second half we grew into the game and attacked better, scored two good goals and in the end we were delighted.”
Moder’s first touch after coming on saw him cross low following a spring heeled Brighton break to set up Maupay (right) for a crisp finish and Brighton were back from the dead.
Burnley were stunned – their commanding play of the first half now a distant memory as Potter’s side smelled blood against a side who had been winless in their previous 10 home games.
It was Mac Allister’s turn to make an immediate impact as six minutes later Adam Webster found the adventurous Pascal Gross and his ball into the box was confidently swept past Nick Pope in the Argentinian’s first piece of action.
Burnley looked punch drunk but for Maupay and his delighted team-mates it was sheer heaven and he was even prepared to put up with some heckling from some frustrated Burnley fans as he conducted an after-match interview on the side of the pitch.
As soon as it was completed he raced to the Brighton fans in a corner of the stand and threw them his shirt.
It had been in stark contrast to the frenetic start in which the seemingly new lenient policy of match officials this season had reaped dividends for Dyche’s side.
With a directive to let the game flow Tarkowski took full advantage from an Ashley Westwood corner, bowling over his would-be marker, birthday boy Maupay, 25, and thundering in a second-minute header.
Cue a howl of protests from Brighton players as referee David Coote awarded the goal which was backed up by a VAR check.
And when six minutes later Johann Berg Gudmundsson flattened Yves
Bissouma on his follow-through after winning the ball the Albion players surrounded Coote demanding a red card. To their distain it was yellow. They should have been more bothered about failing to deal with Westwood’s dangerous corners, skipper Ben Mee heading against the bar and Tarkowski acrobatically volleying the rebound over the bar. Dyche said: “It was a strange frustrated day. “We created enough high-quality chances but couldn’t get the second goal we needed.”
Pope 6; Lowton 6, Tarkowski 7, Mee 7, Taylor 7; Gudmundsson 7, Cork 6, Westwood 7, McNeil 6 (Brownhill
78th); Rodriguez 6 (Barnes (69th) 6), Wood 6 (Cork 85th) Sanchez 6; Webster 6, Dunk 6, Duffy 6 Gross 7; March 6, Alzate 6 (Moder (71st) 7), Mwepu 5 (Lallana (46th)
6), Bissouma 6 Trossard 6 (Mac Allister 75th); Maupay 7
STAR MAN: Neal Maupay
REF: D Coote
Burnley’s next game: Liverpool, Sat (a)
Brighton’s next game: Watford, Sat (h)