Brighton 4 Luton Town 1
Roberto De Zerbi’s side welcomed Luton Town to the Amex Stadium, with The Hatters playing their first top-flight game since 1992, when Right Said Fred were top of the charts with ‘Deeply Dippy’. Brighton have lost Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo this summer, but the club seems able to cope with such departures and just find more talent.
Joao Pedro squandered an early chance when the ball was squared to him in the box but he scuffed his shot wide of the goal. The home side came forward once again, this time with Danny Welbeck, who rather than passing to Pedro took the shot on himself which was easily saved by the keeper. Despite their dominance, it took until the 36th minute for Brighton to break the deadlock as the dangerous Mitoma crossed, finding March in the box to head home.
Luton had the chance to draw level when a corner was whipped in and met by the head of Morris who was steaming into the box, but Steele saved well with his feet. The striker knew that either side of the keeper and he would have been celebrating a goal such was the contact he made with the ball.
Estupinan got down the left flank for The Seagulls and picked out Welbeck in the box but he didn’t quite connect as well with the ball as he would have liked and saw his effort come back off the post. Matt Anderson was caught dwelling on the ball by Joao Pedro in the second half and was penalised for a foul. March whipped the free kick in and it went through a crowd of players to rebound off the post. Lockyer was then penalised for a foul on Pedro, with many feeling the decision was harsh, but debutant Joao Pedro stepped up and stuck the penalty away for his first Brighton goal.
Credit: @OfficialBHAFC
New boys Luton did not give up and when Brown crossed into the box, the ball struck the trailing arm of Dunk and the referee pointed to the spot. After a VAR review, Morris stepped and sent the keeper the wrong way to get his side back in the game with just under ten minutes remaining.
Brighton came forward once again and Estupinan shot to force a save from Kaminski but as ball went up in the air, Mpanzu tried to control it but inadvertently just flicked it up in the air for Adingra to volley home. It is unlikely the Brighton player will score an easier goal than that this season. The impressive Estupinan then found Ferguson in the box, who controlled well to turn and shoot but he too saw his effort come back off the woodwork.
Rob Edwards’ side did not give up in this game and in the 92nd minute Childs crossed from the left to find Woodrow at the back post who headed it to Brown on the penalty spot, only to see his volley tipped over the bar smartly by Steele.
Lewis Dunk hit a long pass into the path of Estupinan who crossed a teasing ball across the six yard box with Evan Ferguson sliding home to convert and make it 4-1 to Brighton late on. Roberto De Zerbi will be pleased with what he saw from his team today and they played some great football and put their opponents to the sword, while Luton deserve some credit for their efforts, they saw just how clinical life is at the top level.
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