Yahoo Finance Morgan Gibbs-White's late finish seals victory for Wolves against 10-man Brighton
For 53 minutes Brighton & Hove Albion seemed to be strolling to the victory which would have secured their Premier League status. Then, their captain and goalscorer Lewis Dunk, hauled down Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Fabio Silva and was dismissed. In that moment the game turned on its head. Substitute Adama Traore breathed extra life into the seemingly moribund home side, but the teams were still level in the 90th minute when the excellent Rayan Ait-Nouri gambolled down the left and crossed. Morgan Gibbs-White’s first-time shot was blocked, but the rebound fell to him and he smashed his first Premier League goal past Robert Sanchez for a victory which had seemed most unlikely at half-time.
Brighton are forced to fight another day, and they must do so without both Dunk and Neal Maupay who, idiotically, received a red card after the final whistle for angrily confronting referee Jon Moss. "I don’t know what he said,” claimed Graham Potter, the Brighton head coach, “but he needs to handle these situations better. It’s very disappointing.”
With games against West Ham United, Manchester City and Arsenal to come and Fulham unlikely to finish the season as world beaters, survival remains a formality, but not for the first time, Brighton have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
“These things happen,” continued Potter. “After the red card, it was difficult to keep them out. They freshened up with attacking players and we couldn’t hold out.”
Brighton were wholly dominant in the first period. They went ahead when Pascal Gross slung over a corner towards the penalty spot. Dunk rose above the earthbound Ki-Jana Hoever and Ruben Neves to power a downwards header past Rui Patricio.
Dunk’s goal both settled and galvanised Brighton. They pressed with swashbuckling authority. Yves Bissouma pulled the midfield strings, Danny Welbeck’s new-found hunger caused Conor Coady consternation and they maintained their poise even when denied a clear-cut penalty after Gibbs-White wrestled Dan Burn to the floor (“a bit strange,” mused Potter), but chances kept coming. Dunk had another free header from another Gross corner and only Patricio’s athleticism kept it out and Maupay volleyed high and wide from six yards.
Of Wolves, there was precious little. Their defending was slapdash and without an effective midfield fulcrum they struggled to hold off the Brighton hordes. Further upfield, the teenager Silva cut a forlorn, isolated figure as sole striker and had home fans been present, they would have booed their team off at the break.
“I was really, really disappointed with the first half,” said Nuno Espirito Santo, the Wolves head coach. “We were flat, we had no energy, but we corrected things even before the red card.”
Indeed, Wolves had improved, even before Dunk’s dismissal. In contrast Potter conceded Brighton had started the second half “slow and sloppy”. They lost their mojo and they lost Dunk when Silva played a whiplash one-two with Daniel Podence and burst through on goal, only for Dunk to haul him back and give Moss one of his more straight-forwards decisions. In a moment, what had been a cruise for Brighton became a journey through hostile waters, hatches battened down. They would not make it into safe harbour.
Traore emerged and he, almost as much as Dunk’s dismissal, would transform the afternoon. ”He totally changed the game,” purred Nuno. “He deserved his beautiful goal, he’s a fantastic player.” The beautiful goal in question came when waves of Wolves attacks climaxed in Vitinha threading an incisive pass into the penalty area. Traore danced through a blue wall of defenders, played a one-two with Silva and thrashed his second league goal of the season beyond Sanchez.
Traore continued to enjoy himself, setting up Gibbs-White with an open goal, over which the tyro blazed high and wide. Distraught, Gibbs-White held his head in his hands. For him, though, there would be ultimate redemption.
“He showed such character to get his balance and focus after that awful mistake he made,” smiled Nuno. “I’m very happy for him."
Maupay sent off after the final whistle
... seemingly for something he said to Moss.
A frustrating day for Brighton gets even worse. That's the last thing Potter needs.
Full time, Wolves 2 Brighton 1
Well, what a comeback from Wolves.
There's no denying that Dunk's red card early in the second half changed the game. Brighton were simply overwhelmed, not least after the introduction of Traore.
90+1 mins
Yves Bissouma is booked for a reckless tackle. Brighton haven't given up, but they've taken a brutal gut punch.
GOAL! Wolves 2 Brighton 1
And there we have it. The turnaround is complete.
Ait-Nouri gets into the box with a neat stepover and picks out Gibbs-White. His first effort is blocked, but his second finds the top corner. That makes up for that comical miss a few minutes ago.
88 mins
Wolves are prowling around the box, but Brighton are fighting for their lives.
Traore gets a wicked cross into the area which falls for Ait-Nouri, but his shot is blocked.
83 mins
How have Wolves failed to make it 2-1? How?
A dreadful back pass allows Traore to round Sanchez, but the angles narrow and he can't get a shot away. He tees up Gibbs-White, who blasts a shot into the stratosphere.
79 mins
Kilman is booked for a foul on Maupay as Brighton try to play their way out of danger.
Potter makes another change in the meantime.
🔃 Final change for Albion as Welbeck is replaced by Zeqiri.#BHAFC 🔵 | 1-1
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) May 9, 2021
GOAL! Wolves 1 Brighton 1
Wolves finally get their equaliser thanks to a beautiful show of skill from Traore.
He ghosts past two defenders, plays a one-two with Silva in the box and almost bursts the back of the net with his finish. Having been so impressive in the first half, Brighton would do well to escape with a draw now.
72 mins
Burn makes a crucial challenge on Silva to stop him from getting a ball across the face of goal.
At the resulting corner, Brighton get in a muddle and almost give the ball away in the area. Welbeck eventually dribbles it to safety.
70 mins
Willian Jose immediately gets in behind, but he's let down by a heavy first touch and Sanchez sweeps up.
Nuno makes his second substitution
70' | #WOL 0-1 #BHA
Daniel Podence is replaced by Willian Jose.#WOLBHA pic.twitter.com/nMqJkDmXUs— Wolves (@Wolves) May 9, 2021
69 mins
A half clearance falls for Moutinho, who hits one on the volley.
Sanchez gets across and makes the save. He's going to be a busy man for the rest of the game, by the look of things.
67 mins
Traore gets to the byline and crosses to Gibbs-White at the far post, but the ball drifts out of play.
Wolves are playing with real urgency now. Brighton have dropped very, very deep.
64 mins
Gibbs-White has an effort from distance which takes a deflection off White and goes narrowly wide.
Soon afterwards Adama Traore, on for Neves, fizzes a cross so close to goal that Sanchez is forced to palm it away.
62 mins
Maupay gets forwards and wins a corner for Brighton.
Gross floats a delivery towards Burn, but Kilman does well to beat him to the ball.
59 mins
Wolves clearly smell blood, Ait-Nouri and Podence combining well before the latter bursts into the box.
Sanchez gathers before he can get a shot away. Brighton could be in for a nervy last half an hour here.
Double change for Brighton
Potter responds to the red card, bringing off Jahanbakhsh and Trossard for Alexis Mac Allister and Jakub Moder.
RED CARD!
Well, that could make things interesting.
Silva goes clean through after a one-two with Vitinha but Dunk grabs a handful of his shirt and drags him down. Jon Moss reaches for his pocket and the red card is inevitable.
48 mins
Once again, Wolves have made an energetic start to the half.
Kilman ferries the ball forwards and forces Sanchez into a routine save from distance. Moments later, Gibbs-White works an opening for himself and gets a shot away which Sanchez pushes around the post.
Teams are back out
... and the second half is about to get underway.
Will Brighton continue to assert themselves? Or will Wolves turn the game on its head? Let's find out.
Half time, Wolves 0 Brighton 1
After a bright start, Wolves weren't really in that half.
Brighton scored somewhat against the run of play and, from thereon out, were better in every department. The hosts have a lot of work to do if they intend to get anything out of this match.
41 mins
Neves switches the play and finds Hoever with a clever cross-field ball.
He skips past a mistimed challenge from Jahanbakhsh and gets a decent cross into the box, but Burn gets in the way and makes the block.
38 mins
The tempo has dropped a bit here, but Brighton are still on top.
Welbeck's runs in behind are causing Wolves' defenders all sorts of problems. At the other end, the hosts are far too static and are struggling to create opportunities.
28 mins
Welbeck gets into a foot race with Coady and looks to have him beaten, but the Wolves skipper does well to muscle in front of him and give Patricio time to gather.
27 mins
Leandro Trossard dinks a ball over the top to Welbeck, who knocks it down to Neal Maupay in a good position.
Much to Wolves' relief, he slashes high and wide. Brighton are totally dominant at the moment.
25 mins
Brighton almost score from two corners in quick succession, Dunk forcing Patricio to push a looping header onto the crossbar before Dan Burn blasts one straight at him.
23 mins
Jahanbakhsh whips a cross into the box but Conor Coady clears before it finds Welbeck.
Wolves have struggled since conceding the opener, with Brighton pouring forward in waves and looking far likelier to score.
GOAL! Wolves 0 Brighton 1
What a delivery from Gross.
He lightly floats the ball into the box and Dunk rises highest to power a header beyond Rui Patricio. Wolves have made the stronger start, but Brighton are ahead.
11 mins
Having dealt with Wolves' early pressure, Brighton have their first good spell of possession.
Pascal Gross finds Welbeck in the box with a nice through ball, but he's forced wide before he can get a shot away. Brighton keep the ball and win a corner.
7 mins
Ben White does well to dispossess Podence, skip into space and free Jahanbakhsh, but the counter attack fizzles out.
5 mins
Moutinho gets a dangerous ball into the box, but Lewis Dunk heads clear before Fabio Silva can connect with it.
4 mins
Wolves go close!
Rayan Ait-Nouri makes a break down the left flank and picks out Vitinha in the box, who forces Robert Sanchez to make a fingertip save.
Teams are out
... and kick off is imminent. It's football time!
Potter admits mathematical safety is 'a big incentive'
While Brighton's Premier League survival is all but assured, Potter has urged his side to make things certain this afternoon.
"It's a big incentive, of course," he tells the BBC. "That's what we're excited about, we want to try to win the game and it's an opportunity for us to get three points, but against a good opponent. Nothing is straightforward, we have to fight for them."
Nuno takes the positives from West Brom
Asked in his pre-match interview whether there were aspects of Wolves' performance against West Brom last week which he liked, Nuno says: "I think we played good.
"We were consistent in parts, we played really good offensively with good combinations. Let's try to do it again."
Jahanbakhsh starts for Brighton
Potter has been forced to make one change to the team which beat Leeds last weekend, with Joel Veltman injured and Alireza Jahanbakhsh filling in for him.
Five changes for Wolves
Nuno Espirito Santo has reshuffled the pack, making significant alterations to the team which drew 1-1 with West Brom last Monday.
Ki-Jana Hoever and Max Kilman come into the back line in place of Romain Saiss and Nelson Semedo, Joao Moutinho and Morgan Gibbs-White come into midfield instead of Leander Dendoncker and Owen Otasowie, while Daniel Podence is preferred to Adama Traore out wide.
Brighton team news
💪 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗟𝗕𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 💪
⚽ #WOLBHA
📲 https://t.co/S3j1TIedJv#BHAFC 🔵⚪ pic.twitter.com/9xdChtn2w6— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) May 9, 2021
Wolves team news
Here's how Wolves line-up for this afternoon's @premierleague fixture against @OfficialBHAFC. #WOLBHA
🐺📋 pic.twitter.com/YDm3cBTXKC— Wolves (@Wolves) May 9, 2021
Potter hopeful of keeping Welbeck
Graham Potter believes Danny Welbeck is loving life at Brighton and is hopeful of keeping the former England forward at the Amex Stadium.
Welbeck has grown into an influential player for the Seagulls since arriving as a free agent in October but is out of contract in the summer.
The 30-year-old helped put Albion on the brink of Premier League safety with a fine individual effort to seal last weekend's 2-0 win over Leeds.
Head coach Potter likened Welbeck's enthusiasm to that of an "18-year-old" ahead of Sunday's trip to Wolves and is eager to prolong their working relationship.
"On the pitch he's got actions that are high-end Premier League level," said Potter.
"The goal that he scored against Leeds, we see pretty regularly in terms of how he can finish and his quality to affect the final third.
"He's in a really good moment. He's enjoying his football and in training he looks like he's an 18-year-old, just influencing the game, influencing training, enjoying himself. I think that's the most important thing.
"We will sit down at the end of the season and try and find the right solution but for me as a head coach, it's about him enjoying his football. Does he feel comfortable here? Does he enjoy it? Are we getting the best out of him?
"If the answer is yes, then there's a good chance in the summer we can find the right solution."
Former Manchester United and Arsenal man Welbeck has scored three times in his last six outings and travels to Molineux seeking his 50th top-flight goal.
Brighton will guarantee survival with victory over Nuno Espirito Santo's men.
Even if Albion were defeated, safety would still be assured should West Brom fail to win at Arsenal on Sunday evening and Fulham lose at home to Burnley on Monday.
Potter does not want to be reliant on assistance from elsewhere.
"That's our motivation, to get back-to-back Premier League wins, to finish the job ourselves, to improve our points tally," he said.
"[There are] lots of reasons to go up there and try and be as positive as we can.
"As I have said many times this season, our performances have been good, but we haven't got the results we feel our performances should have got. That leaves us with a bit of frustration and I think it's important that we got the points against Leeds.
"Now we're looking forward to finishing the season strongly."
Press Association
