Evan Ferguson scored but Albion were held to a 1-1 draw by Fulham at the AMEX in the Premier League.
The Seagulls took the lead in the 26th minute. Pascal Gross found Ferguson on the edge of the Fulham penalty area. Ferguson took one touch before placing the ball into the bottom corner with his weaker left foot. That goal made him the first teenager since Rooney, in 2005, to reach ten goals in a calendar year in the Premier League. Although after the game, Roberto De Zerbi admitted that Ferguson is not at his best.
“Ferguson is not in the best moment of him, but he is a different player for us and a different striker”.
Embed from Getty ImagesAlbion looked the most threatening in the first 45, with Carlos Baleba coming close early on, just before Simon Adingra’s effort at the back post was somehow cleared for a corner by Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
Ferguson came close to making it 2-0 to Albion as he looked to catch out Leno at his near post after stealing the ball from Antonee Robinson, however Leno was on his toes and the effort was saved.
Lewis Dunk came close to making it 2-0; a dipping freekick that hit the top of the crossbar after 49 minutes.
Joao Palhinha equalised in the 66th minute. Harry Wilson found Palhinha, who took one touch before firing a strike on the spin into the top corner. Fulham boss Marco Silva admitted his side were not up to it first half, but improved in the second.
“[We were] not aggressive enough, probably too much respect [for Brighton] … [the] second half was completely different”.
Embed from Getty ImagesWith Brighton on the back foot, Fulham had a chance to take the lead. Two minutes after Palhinha’s strike, Rodrigo Muniz came close, with a flick that was saved by Jason Steele. After the game, De Zerbi was asked if he had stopped rotating the goalkeepers after Steele’s third successive game.
“Bart (Verbruggen) can become one of the best goalkeepers in Europe, but Jason (Steele) knows our idea of football.”
Albion put the pressure on Fulham late on, however the late push was to no avail. One chance came when substitutes Billy Gilmour and Joao Pedro linked up; however Pedro’s strike was saved by Leno. Then, from a Gross corner, Adam Webster’s looping header had to be cleared off the line by Robinson.
Although frustrated his side didn’t win, De Zerbi was happy with the performance:
“I’m really frustrated and disappointed for the result, I think we played a fantastic game.
“We could have scored more goals in the first half and could have been stronger when conceding [the] goal… I’m really proud [of the] performance.”
