Norwich City made Champions elect, Brighton wait for their title celebrations when they comfortably beat the Seagulls 2-0 at Carrow Road on Friday night.
The game was notable for the two own goals scored by Brighton ‘keeper, David Stockdale as Alex Pritchard answered the jeers from the Brighton boo boys.
Alan Irvine made just one change to the side that beat Preston, with Nelson Oliveira replacing Cameron Jerome as the lone striker.
From the first moment to the last, Alex Pritchard was jeered by the travelling Brighton fans, who were there in large numbers and in party mood. Pritchard was booed in the warm up and the pattern was set when he took the first half kick off.
City took the lead on 18 minutes after good work by Josh Murphy on the left. He cut inside ran across the edge of the Brighton box but was tackled centrally and the ball fell to Pritchard who smashed a shot from 20 yards against the cross bar. The ball bounced back and hit the diving Stockdale on the back of the head and into the net.
Carrow Road erupted and it all went quiet in the away end as the nightmare of the travelling fans came true – the opposition player you are giving the most stick to puts you to the sword.
The Canaries doubled their lead 11 minutes later in bizarrely identical circumstances when Pritchard received the ball just outside the box and was given the time to take his shot. His shot hit the post and again rebounded off the diving Stockdale and into the net. Pritchard then slid on his knees in front of the River End.
HT 2-0
Brighton pushed for a way back into the game in the second half but rarely troubled John Ruddy, who only had one serious reaction save to make.
Championship player of the season, Anthony Knockaert was subbed off on 63 minutes after being comfortably dealt with by Mitchell Dijks and looking visibly frustrated as Chris Hughton made two “early” changes. He has changed, hasn`t he?!
Norwich controlled the ball in the second half without actually threatening too much but were still a threat on the counter.
Both teams had decent penalty shouts when in the first half, Dorrans body checked a Brighton player at the Barclay end (I was too far away to see who) and in the second half, at the same end, late on, Lewis Dunk brought down Josh Murphy – both were ignored by the referee, who ignored clear and blatant fouls on both sets of players throughout the evening. If he hadn`t booked Knockaert and Dorrans in the aftermath of the first goal, I`d have thought he had forgotten his cards.
FT 2-0
I have no problem with Brighton winning the league and would rather it be them than Newcastle. The Seagulls have been the best team and deserve it. Looking at their squad in the programme, it looks to me as though they will need huge investment in players. A large number of their squad are over 30 and the likes of Steve Sidwell and Glenn Murray will not be able to consistently compete for a full season with the likes of Pogba and David Luiz. Chris Hughton will know that, of course but the task of staying up for a newly promoted club, as ever, is massive.
OTBC
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