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Previous encounters (Norwich )
NORWICH - Home, Falmer Years: Prem 19/20 21/22, seasons 9 11 . . C'ship 14/15 16/17, seasons 4 6. no league meetings in seasons between 2011 to 2014, 2017 to 2019, 2022 onwards. Prem previous encounters home & away: P4 W2 D2 L0 - see Clubs in Archive. Albion V Norwich PL/EFL record @ Amex: W = 2 D = 1 L = 1 manager: Johannes Hoff Thorup (2024) . experience: Danish league with Nords'land and Europa Lg. ground: Carrow Road 27.2k . nickname: Canaries . shirt: yellow. Prem/EFL record from 11/12: 12 11 18 P, 3 C, 19 P, 8 / 14 1 C, 20 P, 1 C, 20 P, 13 6 C @ 4/5/24. Prem recent best = 11th '13, worst = 20th '20 '22. C21; mid table - '12 '13 . relegated - '05 '14 '16 '20 '22. Albion v City (H) from 17/18: - - 2-0 - 0-0 - < - . . W = 1 D = 1 L = 0 . F2 A0 scorers: Trossard Duffy. memorable match: Season11 (H) - another example of what can happen on any occasion if opportunities are not converted into goals. note: for away Falmer Years results and reports scroll further below. Season 12 (6th) (H) onwards - not Premier League. Season11, 5th Premier League (H) Sat 2/4/22 - D 0-0 The Prem resumed after the latest international break. But for various reasons around fixture rescheduling, where top PL clubs were still in other ongoing competitons, this game now marked start of the run in. Two years ago Albion had secured a home victory which helped go on and extend our stay in the Prem into a 4th campaign. Now East Anglian opponents had quickly returned after relegation and we wondered how strong both outfits were presently with three quarters of the current campaign completed and Q4 just under way. Albion had slipped recently from top half of the table following six defeats on the spin - an infamous club PL record. The last four home games were beatings too, with no goals scored and nine conceded. So this contest took on an importance otherwise not readily expected a few weeks earlier. Norwich by comparison were bottom of the table and looking like relegation certainties once more, having struggled all season to get enough points for survival thus far. However, Seagulls complacency wasn't appropriate at this stage and the harsh truth was that BHA must score at least once, plus keep a clean sheet to win the match by a minimal score of 1-0. And to think some Brighton fans had been criticised for booing a nil-nil home draw back in November when we were actually in 8th position in this tough league. So which way would lady luck point the fickle finger of fate today? And how would the Amex react? *** match report: Albion halted a run of 6 defeats with a one-sided goalless draw. It had looked possible to get the win by default when Ref awarded Seagulls a pen but Maupay booted the ball over the bar (29min). Canaries were caged in their half for most of the match but went home singing after keeping a clean sheet. Brighton couldn't score for all the rock you'd ever want to eat in a lifetime of seafront summers. It was the familiar Amex tale of flattering to deceive and failing to convert goal scoring opportunities when these came along. Potter left it late to make changes and these made little difference - Moder was injured almost immediately (out rest of season). Brighton fans were tolerant of another goalless performance, although anything worse would have produced much more booing at the death. At end of the day we looked like a lower order outfit and maybe just a cut above bottom six fodder. Plenty of sides come here and defend in depth, which is something Potter can't seem to find a solution to fix after three seasons trying. When you watch motd there are goals scored from across the pitch but at Falmer there's a dearth of talent actually capable of doing that regularly. It's not too much to ask to expect goals to be scored here is it? Stats: ht 0-0, goals nil, poss 63%-37%, on target 4-0, off target 18-3, blocks 9-3, corners 11-2, crosses 37-10, o/s 1-1, tackles 13-17, fouls 12-11, yellows 1-1, subs 3-3, shape 3412-433 weather: sunny but cool . gate: 31,245 (away 1849) . MoM: Mac Allister - m-f dynamo. team: 1 Sanchez, 34 Veltman, 5 Dunk, 3 Cucurella, 2 Lamptey Y, 13 Gross, 10 Mac Allister, 20 March (15 Moder 83, 60 Sarmiento 88), 18 Welbeck, 11 Trossard, 9 Maupay (12 Mwepu 78) . bench: 23 Steele, 8 Bissouma, 14 Lallana, 17 Alzate, 24 Duffy, 57 Offiah. squad: 28 Roberts, 42 Leonard . injured: 4 Webster . ill: 25 Caicedo. Prem: P30 . W3 D6 L7 . F10 A20 . W4 D7 L3 . F16 A16 . Pt34 Po13 = 1.13pt/gm . W = 23.3% L = 43.3% Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . . W% L% Total: 38 . 05 07 26 . 23 84 -61 . 22 20 = 0.57 . 13.1 68.4 3qtrs: 29 . 04 05 20 . 18 63 -45 . 17 20 = 0.58 . 13.7 68.9 - D Smith Hfwy: 19 . 02 04 13 . 08 42 -34 . 10 20 = 0.52 . 10.5 68.4 - Dean Smith Start: 10 . 00 02 08 . 03 25 -22 . 02 20 = 0.20 . 00.0 80.0 - Daniel Farke EFL Cup: Liverpool 0-3 (H) R3, Bournemouth 6-0 (H) R2. FA Cup: Liverpool 2-1 (A) R5 . Wolves 0-1 (A) R4 . Charlton 0-1 (A) R3. Oct: bottom of table and 8pts from safety at Q1. Manager sacked. Jan: 20th, 3pts below 17th at halfway Q2. Mar: bottom, adrift by 5pts at threequarters Q3. Out of FA Cup. May: finished bottom on 22pts, 16pts from safety - relegated. 21/22 odds at start: top half 10/1, rel 10-11, stay up 4-5 . sack DF 12/1 . expected to finish: in bottom six - relegation. run in from 1/4/22: Brighton 0-0 (A), Burnley 2-0 (H), Man Utd 3-2 (A), Newcastle 0-3 (H), Villa 2-0 (A), West Ham 0-4 (H), Leicester 3-0 (A), Wolves 1-1 (A), Spurs 0-5 (H). run in forecast @ 1/4/22: 17pt > 22pts . max was 25 . Actual = 22 . Po was 20th . Actual po = 20th Season10 (4th) (H) - not Premier League. Season9 3rd Premier League (H) Sat 2/11/19 - W 2-0 ~ Trossard, Duffy. Second quarter (Q2) of the 3rd campaign began with a consecutive home game. Prior to k-o: Q1 - P10 W3 D3 L4 = 1.20pt/gm, forecasting 45pts next May on completion of the run-in. BHA now hosted Canaries in the Prem, having previously met in the Championship (see Season6 below). In fact we'd also entertained the East Anglian outfit three times in level2 at Withdean. And again hosted them there during those late noughties, as a League One side, while the pre-Amex site was being prepared for construction (see WE tab previous encounters). Graham Potter was head coach for our latest meeting but understood things were played out on a much higher plane this time around. Any similarities or comparisons between these two clubs would only be relevant at end of the season, when final positions had been determined. Meanwhile Potter's task was to pick a side capable of reaching necessary standards but crucially, able to score goals and preferably keep clean sheets - a requirement in any tier of the pyramid. Proof of Potter's pudding would be when consequently digesting points portioned. *** match report: Albion got a clean sheet, subs scored twice and the selected match-day team dominated stats to boot. The downside was losing Webster in the first half with an ankle injury but Duffy more than made up for his absence. Seagulls should have been ahead at the interval but it was not to be during a rainstorm and blustery conditions. Potter put in Trossard after an hour and ten minutes later he diverted Montoya's cross at the near post (68min). Later he fired a f-k over the area and in stretching out a leg, Duffy got on the end of it (84min). Potter said, 'Leandro is very intelligent. You need that mentality where players are disappointed not to start but ready to help the team.' Brighton fans went home happy from the third Amex victory on the bounce and hopeful a pukka Prem side was developing this term. Time of course would tell. Stats: shape 442-4141, ht 0-0, goals 68,84, poss 58%-42%, on target 5-0, off target 12-4, blocks 4-3, crosses 21-4, corners 8-3, o/s 3-1, tackles 19-10, fouls 11-8, yellows 0-1, subs 3-3 . Gate - 30,539 away 3047 . MoM - Dunk . Weather - rain & gales. 1 Ryan, 22 Montoya, 15 Webster (4 Duffy 36), 5 Dunk, 33 Burn, 13 Gross (11 Trossard 59), 6 Stephens, 24 Propper, 46 Alzate, 44 Connolly (21 Schelotto 86), 7 Maupay . Bench: 27 Button, 18 Mooy, 20 March, 17 Murray. Squad - 3 Bong, 8 Bissouma, 14 Balogun, 16 Jahanbakhsh . Injured - 19 Izquierdo, 30 Bernardo. Prem P11 . W3 D2 L1 . F10 A6 . W1 D1 L3 . F4 A8 . Pt15 Po8 = 1.36pt/gm. Wins = 36.3%, Loss = 36.3% Quatr: Pl . W D L . F A GD . . . Pt Po pt/gm . . W% L% Total: 38 . 5 6 27 . 26 75 -49 . 21 20 = 0.55 . 13.1 71.0 - Daniel Farke, finish 27/7/20. 3qtrs: 29 . 5 6 18 . 25 52 -27 . 21 20 = 0.72 . 17.2 62.0 PREM SUSPENDED Hfwy: 19 . 3 3 13 . 19 38 -19 . 12 20 = 0.63 . 15.7 68.4 Start: 10 . 2 1 07 . 11 24 -13 . 07 19 = 0.70 . 20.0 60.0 - Daniel Farke. EFL Cup: 2nd rnd - Crawley 1-0 (A) FA Cup: Man Utd 1-2 aet (H) q-f, Spurs 2pen3 1-1 aet (A) R5, Burnley 1-2 (A) R4, Preston 2-4 (A) R3. Aug: disappointing start to confirm pundits views but goals had been scored. Out of EFL Cup to L2 outfit. October: finding it tough going and stuck in bottom three by end of first quarter Q1. New Year: rock bottom and need a Prem miracle. Into FAC4 draw. March: bottom of table when Prem suspended. Into FAC last eight. July: down and out early doors. Seasons 7-8 (1st-2nd) (H) - not Premier League. CITY Away: Prem. Seasn . W D L . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm %Pt . . W% L% 22/23 onwards - not Premier League. 21/22 - 2 4 13 . 11 41 -30 . 10 20 = 0.52 45.4 . 10.5 68.4 - Dean Smith & Daniel Farke 20/21 - not Premier League. 19/20 - 1 3 15 . 07 38 -31 . 06 20 = 0.31 28.5 . 05.2 78.9 - Daniel Farke, finish 27/7/20. 16/17 - 18/19 not Premier League - see below Season6. 15/16 - 3 2 14 . 13 37 -24 . 11 19 = 0.57 32.3 . 15.7 73.6 - Alex Neil. 14/15 - not Premier League, see below Season4. 13/14 - 2 3 14 . 11 44 -33 . 09 18 = 0.47 27.2 . 10.5 73.6 - Chris Hughton. CANARIES Previous Prem: Prem points: 47, 44, 33, -, 34, - - -, 21 / -, 22, - - recent managers; David Wagner (23-24) . Experience: had limited PL experience. Dean Smith (21-22) . Experience: cut teeth at lower level, did Prem apprenticeship ok. Had a big job on. Daniel Farke (17-21) - P195 wins = 43.5% @ Aug '21. Experience: once tasted Prem delights but had to up his game. Alex Neil (15-17), Neil Adams (2014), Chris Hughton (12-14), Paul Lambert (09-12). Seasn . W D L . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . . W% L% 22/23 onwards - not Premier League. 21/22 - 5 7 26 . 23 84 -61 . 22 20 = 0.57 . - Dean Smith & Daniel Farke @ 22/5/22 Changed manager but always on a hiding to nothing as previously and relegated in April. 20/21 - not Premier League. 19/20 - 5 6 27 . 26 75 -49 . 21 20 = 0.55 . 13.1 71.0 - Daniel Farke. PL SUSPENDED, complete @ 27/7/20 Never stood a chance from word go and always favourite to be bottom. 16/17 - 18/19 not Premier League - see below Season6. 15/16 - 9 7 22 . 40 67 -21 . 34 19 = 0.89 . 23.6 57.8 - Alex Neil. 14/15 - not Premier League, see below Season4. 13/14 - 8 9 21 . 28 62 -34 . 33 18 = 0.86 . 21.0 55.2 - Chris Hughton. 12/13 - 10 14 14 41 58 -17 44 11 = 1.15 . 26.3 36.8 11/12 - 12 11 15 52 66 -14 47 12 = 1.23 . 31.5 39.4 FA CUP; from 11/12 - 5th rnd, 4th, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, q-f, 4th, 5th, 3rd LEAGUE CUP; 2nd rnd, q-f, 4th, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 4th, 4th, 2nd, 1st, 3rd, 2nd. * * * * * * * * * Norwich home, Falmer years - C'ship 14/15 16/17 . Seasons 4 6. Albion v City (H) from 11/12 @ C: -, -, -, 0-1, -, 5-0 . . W = 1 D = 0 L = 1 memorable match: Season6 (H) - a nap hand against what was considered probable promo rivals. Season6 (H) Championship 29/10/16 - 5-0 ~ Murray 3, Dunk, Knockaert. Was this a six pointer? Well, if not it was certainly a big match against a club well fancied to go straight back into the Prem - at our expense! Chris Hughton had other plans for BHA and comparing his team of 18mths ago, only a few were still in the overall squad today. Stockdale, Bruno, Ince, Stephens, Kayal, LuaLua and O'Grady remained under contract, although the last named was on loan at Burton. Hughton had a stronger group all together with very good cover for most positions. His match-day eighteen was pretty settled and merely altered due to injury or suspension. For this game he put out perhaps the optimum eleven. * match report: Albion's home record against Canaries was not a winning one since our meetings at Withdean. But that hoodoo was vanquished in fine style with a score that will stay a long time in fans memories. Murray got his first early in the contest when pouncing on a mistake by the keeper at a back pass. He got the second goal on the hour mark when nodding in from Skalak's cross after Bong released the winger way down left flank. Then flood gates opened, as Dunk nutted a third from a corner four mins later and Murray got his hat-trick, firing home following another mistake in defence. Hughton pulled him off immediately to raptuous applause. Then swapped his other striker to bolster midfield for the clean sheet. Knockaert later completed the rout, chipping over the hapless goalie as he ran riot on the right once more, while the clock ticked toward the ninety. Hughton said, 'this was a very good victory against a top, top team. These days they don't happen too often, not in this diviion.' Brighton fans were ecstatic and on checking footy apps found BHA had secured a 3-7pt gap above top-bottom p-o spots and +14 GD to boot! Stats; h-t 1-0, goals 6, 60, 64, 73, 84, poss 45%-55%, on target 7-2, off target 2-2, blocks 2-4, corners 2-2, o/s 3-3, fouls 12-10, yellows 1-3, subs 3-3 . att 29,469. Stockdale, Bruno, Duffy, Dunk, Bong, Knockaert (Murphy), Stephens, Sidwell, Skalak, Baldock (Norwood), Murray (Hemed). Champ's P15 . W9 D4 L2 . F23 A9 . Pt31 Po2 . W = 60% L = 13.3% Season5 (H) - not C'ship. Season4 (H) 3/4/15 - L 0-1. There was one hellava scrap going on at top of the table and Albion were now playing one of the main candidates for promotion. It was Good Friday and reputations could be made or broken over Easter with biblical proportions. It had been a very disappointing campaign for Seagulls but Chris Hughton had come in since New Year and baring disaster in the run-in, kinda made 'em safe from relegation. Amex form improved radically in recent weeks and crowds had held up during that torrid decline under Sami Hyypia. Hughton fielded a stronger midfield lately, with Kayal, Stephens & Ince working well as a unit - one holding and two attacking. The biggest problem was with lack of strikers scoring goals but others could be relied upon at the Amex. On the day Albion still went with one up front from a fairly settled line-up. * match report: Oh dear, it was a single goal defeat that typified differences between clubs at the top and those closer to the bottom. On-targets went 4 to 3 for Albion but City netted from their clear-cut chance and also created more in the area than hapless homies. Canaries were quicker out of the blocks but Seagulls held firm and came back into it before half time. In fact during a super period of pressure, all local fans missed was an opening goal. Around the hour mark Norwich sent on a super-sub and he soon provided the centre for an easy goal-scoring opportunity (62min). Hughton responded by introducing impact player LuaLua and later two other recognised front men. But it made little difference to our overall display and visitors knew too much to let it slip as the clock ticked down. A draw was probably a fair result but this is the Championship and fairness is the last thing that determines the final score at any time of the season. Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Halford, Bennett, Kayal (Mackail-Smith), Ince, Stephens, Calderon (LuaLua), O'Grady (Best), Teixeira. Champ's P40 . W10 D15 L15 . F43 A47 . Pt45 Po17 . W = 25% L = 375% Seasons 1-3 (H) - not C'ship. * * * * * Withdean Era: 12 seasons from 1999 to 2011. Seasons 4 02/3, 7 05/6 - Champonship. Season11 09/10 - League One. Season4 14/1/03 (A) - FA Cup R3. Withdean era: Albion v Canaries 0-2, 1-3, 1-2 . . . W = 0 D = 0 L = 3 memorable match: Season4 (H) - mid August an attempting to get results at a higher level. see: Seasons 4, 7, 11 for club & stadium info. Also Dick Knight, Mark McGhee & Gus Poyet.
Norwich - Away, Falmer Years: Prem 19/20 21/22 seasons 9 11 . . C'ship 14/15 16/17, seasons 4 6. Albion record @ Canaries: W = 1 D = 2 L = 1 City v Albion (A) from 17/18: - - 0-1 - 0-0 - < - . . W = 1 D = 1 L = 0 . F1 A0 scorers: Trossard. memorable match: Season9 (A) - a single goal game and winner take the points home. note: for home Falmer Years results & reports scroll further up. Season 12 (6th) (A) onwards - not Premier League. Season11, 5th Premier League (A) Sat 16/10/21 - 0-0 Seagulls were back at Carrow Road and hoping to fly up to high levels on all counts. Canaries had hopped back up to the elite after one term caged in the Championship, so had something to prove as well. Albion were off the nest fast in August, although not really with much of an enhanced squad providing extra elevation. Potter had to rely on previous Prem proven personnel, plus a couple of additions to supplement the squad in Cucurella & Mwepu. Many fringe players went out on loan to SPL, EFL and also clubs abroad. To date BHA were over achieving by past standards and currently reaching for the sky. Meanwhile Daniel Farke remained as manager from those East Anglian's recent abortive season in the Prem, so was known to Brighton fans. His brief was to stay in the div this time around and had spent about 50m to try to help secure status. Pundits took a dim view of prospects from August, so on paper at least City were basically doomed and their meagre points tally reflected such already. * match report: It ended goalless but both sides had chances to win and maybe hosts shoulda edged a cut & thrust affair. Albion began brightest but our performance progressively got less effective as locals upped the ante and held their own. Chances came and went, including an early pen shout by Maupay that VAR checked to no avail. In the second period yellow shirts appeared likely to score and missed a couple of sitters - Duffy cleared off the line. Burn also twice got visitors off the hook with last ditch interventions. The longer it went on the less a single goal result seemed remotely possible. At end of the day we kept a clean sheet, remained unbeaten away and pinched a point too. Potter was first to admit his eleven were off the boil and inserted attack minded subs to break deadlock. However stalemate was order of the day and no Brighton fan was over the moon either, apart from eternal optimists, Prem table anoraks and Sussex lunar-phases worshipers. Lady luck was holding for our south-coast squad, fickle finger of fate still pointed to our advantage and Euro sceptics were now checking football forecasts on an outside bet for continental inclusion come 2022. Stats: ht 0-0, goals nil, poss 35%-65%, on target 3-3, off target 5-4, blocks 7-4, corners 8-4, crosses 22-18, tackles 9-20, fouls 5-14, yellows 3-5, subs 3-3, shape 532-352 weather: sunny . gate: 26,777, away 2015 . MoM: Burn - colossal. team: 1 Sanchez, 24 Duffy Y, 5 Dunk, 33 Burn Y, 34 Veltman Y (2 Lamptey 59), 13 Gross, 14 Lallana Y, 15 Moder (10 Mac Allister 84), 3 Cucurella Y (20 March 66), 9 Maupay, 11 Trossard . bench: 23 Steele, 27 Locadia, 28 Roberts. squad: 4 Webster, 30 Richards . injured: 17 Alzate, 18 Welbeck Prem: P8 . W2 D1 L1 . F4 A3 . W2 D2 L0 . F4 A2 . Pt15 Po4 = 1.87pt/gm . W = 50.0% L = 12.5% Season10 (4th) (A) - not Premier League. Season9, 3rd Premier League (A) Sat 4/7/20 - W 0-1 ~ Trossard PL suspended until restart from 17/6/20 after Sat 11/4/20 postponed. Revised fixture played behind closed doors at lunchtime without fans attending. This match was one of nine run-in games postponed when the PL was suspended from mid March beyond the usual mid May finish due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Albion had previously travelled to Canaries aviary on several occasions this century, including for an FA Cup R3 tie during Jan '03 when both sides were playing at level2. Now we currently met in the Prem, each club having experienced a rise from lower league fare, albeit pre-Falmer, when BHA were moving on from an inferior position, both geographically & statistically. Unfortunately staying in the Prem was proving somewhat harder than actually reaching these dizzy heights. Brighton fans of Goldstone vintage had saved the club from extinction, put in hard earned cash to keep it afloat and regularly been there on peaceful protests and annual marches in pursuit of the Amex. We not merely wanted the club to survive but fight as hard as possible to rise in PL status, having finally gotten, through fan power, into the promised land. Unfortunately questions remained about whether this squad was up to the task latterly set by the BHA board for consolidating in the Prem. Ongoing decisions made by technical director's dept and coaching staff were therefore open to scrutiny and analysis. Consequences would prove dire for ultimate failure of providing positive results. * match report: Albion got the vital win to ease d-z worries and reach that points total which ensured survival last term. It wasn't clever or pretty but at end of the day three points were crucial compared to another ok display with nought to show for it. Trossard bagged the winner from a Seagulls counter when fed by Mooy (25min). In the second period City subbed first so Potter responded by going to 541 and holding out for victory against late progress by deflated hosts. Brighton couldn't put the game to bed, albeit a lunchtime affair of low quality. The old problem of creating and taking chances is one to still be overcome if BHA are to shape up as a mid table outfit next term. Albion labour against sides that press, where as top teams tend to allow more room to play football. Potter would know by now types of players needed to complete a squad able to hit the ground running for our fourth season in the elite. Whether Dan Ashworth & co can obtain these signings in coming weeks will probably determine where we'll finish next time around nine months later. stats: shape 4141-442, ht 0-1, goal 25, poss 58%-42%, on target 1-2, off target 4-3, blocked 7-3, o/s 4-0, crosses 17-14, corners 0-2, tackles 14-11, fouls 11-13, yellows 2-2, subs 4-5 (5/9) . MoM - Lamptey . Gate - 0 . Weather - windy, cloud. 1 Ryan, 2 Lamptey Y (4 Duffy 94), 15 Webster, 5 Dunk, 33 Burn, 18 Mooy (30 Bernardo 72), 8 Bissouma (10 Mac Allister 79), 24 Propper, 11 Trossard (6 Stephens 79), 44 Connolly (13 Gross 72 Y), 7 Maupay . Bench: (5/9) - 27 Button, 22 Montoya, 20 March, 17 Murray. Squad: 16 Jahanbakhsh, 23 Schelotto, 25 Kayal . Injured: 19 Izquiredo, 46 Alzate. Prem: P33 . W5 D6 L5 . F19 A19 . W3 D6 L8 . F16 A25 . Pt36 Po15 = 1.09pt/gm. Wins = 24.2%, Loss = 39.3% Seasons 7-8 (1st-2nd) (A) - not Premier League. City @ Home: Prem, Carrow Road. Seasn . W D L . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm %Pt . . W% L% 22/23 onwards - not Premier League. 21/22 - 3 3 13 . 12 43 -31 . 12 20 = 0.63 54.5 . 15.7 68.4 - Dean Smith & Daniel Farke 20/21 - not Premier League. 19/20 - 4 3 12 . 19 37 -18 . 15 20 = 0.78 71.4 . 21.0 63.1 - Daniel Farke, finish 27/7/20. 16/17 - 18/19 not Premier League - see below Season6. 15/16 - 6 5 08 . 26 30 -04 . 23 19 = 1.21 67.6 . 31.5 42.1 - Alex Neil. 14/15 - not Premier League, see below Season4. 13/14 - 6 6 07 . 17 18 -01 . 24 18 = 1.26 72.7 . 31.5 36.8 - Chris Hughton. * * * * * * * * * * * Norwich away, Falmer years - C'ship 14/15 16/17 . Seasons 4 6. City v Albion (A) from 11/12 @ C: -, -, -, 3-3, -, 2-0 . . W = 0 D = 1 L = 1 memorable match: Season4 (A) - scored three away but no cigar. Season6 (A) Championship 21/4/17 - L 2-0. Albion were in demand for being covered by live tv this term and it was the 3rd April Friday in a row that Seagulls support travelled to an away fixture. The club had arranged free coaches too, as a thank you to many thousands of faithful fans who followed BHA all over the country during recent campaigns. Visits to Carrow Road were as rare as canary eggs in seagull nests but was a place Chis Hughton knew well. And he was hoping to better his record there as a promotion winning manager in the Prem. With 3 matches to go Albion headed the division by 7 points, had just won automatic promotion and needed 3 points to secure the Championship title. * match report: Table toppers crashed to defeat in bizarre circumstances, making it another week to wait prior to winning silverware. Stockdale scored 2 ogs, within 20 first half minutes, when twice the ball struck woodwork and bounced off his back into the net (18, 39 min). In truth opposition did not register a shot on target but BHA had an off day in attack and perhaps a goalless draw was more appropriate on balance of stats. Hughton got Seagulls to up the ante in the second period, although this merely produced another 'failed to score' for seasonal records. Hughton made a double swap a little over the hour mark going to 442 and later changed strikers but at end of the day it made no difference to the result. It was an occasion when key goalscorers didn't net and unfortunately others who got forward at set pieces etc also couldn't take advantage from having equal possession. Hughton said, 'whether the performance was down to emotions of the week I don't know. We can normally go through that and show our quality.' Travelling support weren't too deflated and gave good account of singing, chanting and generally celebrating gaining elevation to the elite next term. But surely Albion wanted to be no.1 at conclusion of this level2 campaign didn't they? Stats; h-t 2-0, goals 18,39, poss 50%-50%, on target 0-3, off target 7-8, corners 2-5, o/s 2-2, fouls 9-13, yellows 1-1, subs 2-3 . att 26,932. Stockdale, Bruno, Huenemeier, Dunk, Pocognoli, Knockaert (Hemed), Norwood (Stephens), Sidwell, March, Murphy, Murray (Akpom). Champ's P44 . W28 D8 L8 . F73 A38 . Pt92 Po1 . W = 63.6% L = 18.1% Season5 (A) - not C'ship. Season4 (A) 22/11/14 - 3-3 ~ Bruno, LuaLua, Colunga. It was the first time we'd played City since they'd tasted the big time, after them shooting up two levels from when we met in League One days back at Withdean. But with a third of this second tier campaign already completed and merely six more fixtures until the halfway stage on Boxing Day, it was Albion who were now having experience of a relegation threat. Seagulls away record this term was very average to date; lwlldddl. Sami Hyypia was tearing his blond wig to pieces trying to squeeze extra points out on the road, although operating with 451 shape and a tiny striker up front, it was proving a tad difficult to implement his master plan for a consecutive p-o finish! In truth BHA were merely six points below top half of the table but gaining three pts either at home or away had remained elusive since August. Tony Bloom had also raised his head above the parapet and spoken out in positive vein concerning the immediate future. Then again, it was his policy to take an interest in potential signings and to date he'd not spent big money, nor bought a bargain, preferring to take players on loan! This contest followed the international break, so there was no excuse now about players not knowing other members of this current piecemeal squad. On the day we assumed the best eleven started. * match report: The first half hour was tedious, as both teams sought to find weakness in opponents game and exploit for an opener. Then Colunga outpaced his man to provide an inch perfect cross for Bruno to nod home (33min). That woke hosts up and they levelled from a header a little too easily (38min). Early in the second period with Albion again back pedaling, City took the lead from a worldy shot into the top corner (49min). Seagulls kept plugging away and LuaLua was pick of visitors side when driving in a trademark punt (66min) to make it even steven. Calde replaced injured Bruno and a few moments later Baldock was brought down in the area. Up stepped Colunga to stroke Albion ahead from the spot (77min). He later came off for Halford as the clock ticked down. But Canaries still posed a serious threat from chances created and pulled things back to parity with a speculative dig late in the day (85min). In stoppage one of the home unit was sent off but seeing six goals scored was enough for anybody today. Sami said, 'there were a lot of positives but we let Norwich come more and more into the game. Defensively we didn't do the right things.' Stockdale, Bruno (Calderon), Greer, Hughes, J Bennett, Gardner, Ince, Forster-Caskey, Baldock, Colunga (Halford), LuaLua. Champ's P18 . W3 D9 L6. F20 A23 . Pt18 Po20 . W = 16.6% L = 33.3% Seasons 1-3 (A) - not C'ship. * * * * * Withdean Era: 12 seasons from 1999 to 2011. Seasons 4 02/3, 7 05/6 - Champonship. Season11 09/10 - League One. Season4 14/1/03 (A) - FA Cup R3. Withdean era: Canaries v Albion 0-1, 3-0, 4-1 . . . W = 1 D = 0 L = 2 3-1 FA Cup R3. memorable match: Season4 (A) - Xmas in East Anglia and we returned with a nice present. Noughties last there - 24/11/09 (A) League One. A thrashing at lower level, ending three league visits to Carrow Road this decade in 2 divs. 14/1/03 (A) FAC3. This k-o tie came quickly after our initial 'surprise' victory visit on Boxing Day '02 in the C'ship. see: Seasons 4, 7, 11 for club & stadium info. Also Steve Coppell, Mark McGhee & Gus Poyet.
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Previous encounters (Norwich )
NORWICH - Home, Falmer Years: Prem 19/20 21/22, seasons 9 11 . . C'ship 14/15 16/17, seasons 4 6. no league meetings in seasons between 2011 to 2014, 2017 to 2019, 2022 onwards. Prem previous encounters home & away: P4 W2 D2 L0 - see Clubs in Archive. Albion V Norwich PL/EFL record @ Amex: W = 2 D = 1 L = 1 manager: Johannes Hoff Thorup (2024) . experience: Danish league with Nords'land and Europa Lg. ground: Carrow Road 27.2k . nickname: Canaries . shirt: yellow. Prem/EFL record from 11/12: 12 11 18 P, 3 C, 19 P, 8 / 14 1 C, 20 P, 1 C, 20 P, 13 6 C @ 4/5/24. Prem recent best = 11th '13, worst = 20th '20 '22. C21; mid table - '12 '13 . relegated - '05 '14 '16 '20 '22. Albion v City (H) from 17/18: - - 2-0 - 0-0 - < - . . W = 1 D = 1 L = 0 . F2 A0 scorers: Trossard Duffy. memorable match: Season11 (H) - another example of what can happen on any occasion if opportunities are not converted into goals. note: for away Falmer Years results and reports scroll further below. Season 12 (6th) (H) onwards - not Premier League. Season11, 5th Premier League (H) Sat 2/4/22 - D 0-0 The Prem resumed after the latest international break. But for various reasons around fixture rescheduling, where top PL clubs were still in other ongoing competitons, this game now marked start of the run in. Two years ago Albion had secured a home victory which helped go on and extend our stay in the Prem into a 4th campaign. Now East Anglian opponents had quickly returned after relegation and we wondered how strong both outfits were presently with three quarters of the current campaign completed and Q4 just under way. Albion had slipped recently from top half of the table following six defeats on the spin - an infamous club PL record. The last four home games were beatings too, with no goals scored and nine conceded. So this contest took on an importance otherwise not readily expected a few weeks earlier. Norwich by comparison were bottom of the table and looking like relegation certainties once more, having struggled all season to get enough points for survival thus far. However, Seagulls complacency wasn't appropriate at this stage and the harsh truth was that BHA must score at least once, plus keep a clean sheet to win the match by a minimal score of 1-0. And to think some Brighton fans had been criticised for booing a nil-nil home draw back in November when we were actually in 8th position in this tough league. So which way would lady luck point the fickle finger of fate today? And how would the Amex react? *** match report: Albion halted a run of 6 defeats with a one-sided goalless draw. It had looked possible to get the win by default when Ref awarded Seagulls a pen but Maupay booted the ball over the bar (29min). Canaries were caged in their half for most of the match but went home singing after keeping a clean sheet. Brighton couldn't score for all the rock you'd ever want to eat in a lifetime of seafront summers. It was the familiar Amex tale of flattering to deceive and failing to convert goal scoring opportunities when these came along. Potter left it late to make changes and these made little difference - Moder was injured almost immediately (out rest of season). Brighton fans were tolerant of another goalless performance, although anything worse would have produced much more booing at the death. At end of the day we looked like a lower order outfit and maybe just a cut above bottom six fodder. Plenty of sides come here and defend in depth, which is something Potter can't seem to find a solution to fix after three seasons trying. When you watch motd there are goals scored from across the pitch but at Falmer there's a dearth of talent actually capable of doing that regularly. It's not too much to ask to expect goals to be scored here is it? Stats: ht 0-0, goals nil, poss 63%-37%, on target 4-0, off target 18-3, blocks 9-3, corners 11-2, crosses 37-10, o/s 1-1, tackles 13-17, fouls 12-11, yellows 1-1, subs 3-3, shape 3412-433 weather: sunny but cool . gate: 31,245 (away 1849) . MoM: Mac Allister - m-f dynamo. team: 1 Sanchez, 34 Veltman, 5 Dunk, 3 Cucurella, 2 Lamptey Y, 13 Gross, 10 Mac Allister, 20 March (15 Moder 83, 60 Sarmiento 88), 18 Welbeck, 11 Trossard, 9 Maupay (12 Mwepu 78) . bench: 23 Steele, 8 Bissouma, 14 Lallana, 17 Alzate, 24 Duffy, 57 Offiah. squad: 28 Roberts, 42 Leonard . injured: 4 Webster . ill: 25 Caicedo. Prem: P30 . W3 D6 L7 . F10 A20 . W4 D7 L3 . F16 A16 . Pt34 Po13 = 1.13pt/gm . W = 23.3% L = 43.3% Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . . W% L% Total: 38 . 05 07 26 . 23 84 -61 . 22 20 = 0.57 . 13.1 68.4 3qtrs: 29 . 04 05 20 . 18 63 -45 . 17 20 = 0.58 . 13.7 68.9 - D Smith Hfwy: 19 . 02 04 13 . 08 42 -34 . 10 20 = 0.52 . 10.5 68.4 - Dean Smith Start: 10 . 00 02 08 . 03 25 -22 . 02 20 = 0.20 . 00.0 80.0 - Daniel Farke EFL Cup: Liverpool 0-3 (H) R3, Bournemouth 6-0 (H) R2. FA Cup: Liverpool 2-1 (A) R5 . Wolves 0-1 (A) R4 . Charlton 0-1 (A) R3. Oct: bottom of table and 8pts from safety at Q1. Manager sacked. Jan: 20th, 3pts below 17th at halfway Q2. Mar: bottom, adrift by 5pts at threequarters Q3. Out of FA Cup. May: finished bottom on 22pts, 16pts from safety - relegated. 21/22 odds at start: top half 10/1, rel 10-11, stay up 4-5 . sack DF 12/1 . expected to finish: in bottom six - relegation. run in from 1/4/22: Brighton 0-0 (A), Burnley 2-0 (H), Man Utd 3-2 (A), Newcastle 0-3 (H), Villa 2-0 (A), West Ham 0-4 (H), Leicester 3-0 (A), Wolves 1-1 (A), Spurs 0-5 (H). run in forecast @ 1/4/22: 17pt > 22pts . max was 25 . Actual = 22 . Po was 20th . Actual po = 20th Season10 (4th) (H) - not Premier League. Season9 3rd Premier League (H) Sat 2/11/19 - W 2-0 ~ Trossard, Duffy. Second quarter (Q2) of the 3rd campaign began with a consecutive home game. Prior to k-o: Q1 - P10 W3 D3 L4 = 1.20pt/gm, forecasting 45pts next May on completion of the run-in. BHA now hosted Canaries in the Prem, having previously met in the Championship (see Season6 below). In fact we'd also entertained the East Anglian outfit three times in level2 at Withdean. And again hosted them there during those late noughties, as a League One side, while the pre-Amex site was being prepared for construction (see WE tab previous encounters). Graham Potter was head coach for our latest meeting but understood things were played out on a much higher plane this time around. Any similarities or comparisons between these two clubs would only be relevant at end of the season, when final positions had been determined. Meanwhile Potter's task was to pick a side capable of reaching necessary standards but crucially, able to score goals and preferably keep clean sheets - a requirement in any tier of the pyramid. Proof of Potter's pudding would be when consequently digesting points portioned. *** match report: Albion got a clean sheet, subs scored twice and the selected match-day team dominated stats to boot. The downside was losing Webster in the first half with an ankle injury but Duffy more than made up for his absence. Seagulls should have been ahead at the interval but it was not to be during a rainstorm and blustery conditions. Potter put in Trossard after an hour and ten minutes later he diverted Montoya's cross at the near post (68min). Later he fired a f-k over the area and in stretching out a leg, Duffy got on the end of it (84min). Potter said, 'Leandro is very intelligent. You need that mentality where players are disappointed not to start but ready to help the team.' Brighton fans went home happy from the third Amex victory on the bounce and hopeful a pukka Prem side was developing this term. Time of course would tell. Stats: shape 442-4141, ht 0-0, goals 68,84, poss 58%-42%, on target 5-0, off target 12-4, blocks 4-3, crosses 21-4, corners 8-3, o/s 3-1, tackles 19-10, fouls 11-8, yellows 0-1, subs 3-3 . Gate - 30,539 away 3047 . MoM - Dunk . Weather - rain & gales. 1 Ryan, 22 Montoya, 15 Webster (4 Duffy 36), 5 Dunk, 33 Burn, 13 Gross (11 Trossard 59), 6 Stephens, 24 Propper, 46 Alzate, 44 Connolly (21 Schelotto 86), 7 Maupay . Bench: 27 Button, 18 Mooy, 20 March, 17 Murray. Squad - 3 Bong, 8 Bissouma, 14 Balogun, 16 Jahanbakhsh . Injured - 19 Izquierdo, 30 Bernardo. Prem P11 . W3 D2 L1 . F10 A6 . W1 D1 L3 . F4 A8 . Pt15 Po8 = 1.36pt/gm. Wins = 36.3%, Loss = 36.3% Quatr: Pl . W D L . F A GD . . . Pt Po pt/gm . . W% L% Total: 38 . 5 6 27 . 26 75 -49 . 21 20 = 0.55 . 13.1 71.0 - Daniel Farke, finish 27/7/20. 3qtrs: 29 . 5 6 18 . 25 52 -27 . 21 20 = 0.72 . 17.2 62.0 PREM SUSPENDED Hfwy: 19 . 3 3 13 . 19 38 -19 . 12 20 = 0.63 . 15.7 68.4 Start: 10 . 2 1 07 . 11 24 -13 . 07 19 = 0.70 . 20.0 60.0 - Daniel Farke. EFL Cup: 2nd rnd - Crawley 1-0 (A) FA Cup: Man Utd 1-2 aet (H) q-f, Spurs 2pen3 1-1 aet (A) R5, Burnley 1-2 (A) R4, Preston 2-4 (A) R3. Aug: disappointing start to confirm pundits views but goals had been scored. Out of EFL Cup to L2 outfit. October: finding it tough going and stuck in bottom three by end of first quarter Q1. New Year: rock bottom and need a Prem miracle. Into FAC4 draw. March: bottom of table when Prem suspended. Into FAC last eight. July: down and out early doors. Seasons 7-8 (1st-2nd) (H) - not Premier League. CITY Away: Prem. Seasn . W D L . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm %Pt . . W% L% 22/23 onwards - not Premier League. 21/22 - 2 4 13 . 11 41 -30 . 10 20 = 0.52 45.4 . 10.5 68.4 - Dean Smith & Daniel Farke 20/21 - not Premier League. 19/20 - 1 3 15 . 07 38 -31 . 06 20 = 0.31 28.5 . 05.2 78.9 - Daniel Farke, finish 27/7/20. 16/17 - 18/19 not Premier League - see below Season6. 15/16 - 3 2 14 . 13 37 -24 . 11 19 = 0.57 32.3 . 15.7 73.6 - Alex Neil. 14/15 - not Premier League, see below Season4. 13/14 - 2 3 14 . 11 44 -33 . 09 18 = 0.47 27.2 . 10.5 73.6 - Chris Hughton. CANARIES Previous Prem: Prem points: 47, 44, 33, -, 34, - - -, 21 / -, 22, - - recent managers; David Wagner (23-24) . Experience: had limited PL experience. Dean Smith (21-22) . Experience: cut teeth at lower level, did Prem apprenticeship ok. Had a big job on. Daniel Farke (17-21) - P195 wins = 43.5% @ Aug '21. Experience: once tasted Prem delights but had to up his game. Alex Neil (15-17), Neil Adams (2014), Chris Hughton (12-14), Paul Lambert (09-12). Seasn . W D L . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . . W% L% 22/23 onwards - not Premier League. 21/22 - 5 7 26 . 23 84 -61 . 22 20 = 0.57 . - Dean Smith & Daniel Farke @ 22/5/22 Changed manager but always on a hiding to nothing as previously and relegated in April. 20/21 - not Premier League. 19/20 - 5 6 27 . 26 75 -49 . 21 20 = 0.55 . 13.1 71.0 - Daniel Farke. PL SUSPENDED, complete @ 27/7/20 Never stood a chance from word go and always favourite to be bottom. 16/17 - 18/19 not Premier League - see below Season6. 15/16 - 9 7 22 . 40 67 -21 . 34 19 = 0.89 . 23.6 57.8 - Alex Neil. 14/15 - not Premier League, see below Season4. 13/14 - 8 9 21 . 28 62 -34 . 33 18 = 0.86 . 21.0 55.2 - Chris Hughton. 12/13 - 10 14 14 41 58 -17 44 11 = 1.15 . 26.3 36.8 11/12 - 12 11 15 52 66 -14 47 12 = 1.23 . 31.5 39.4 FA CUP; from 11/12 - 5th rnd, 4th, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, q-f, 4th, 5th, 3rd LEAGUE CUP; 2nd rnd, q-f, 4th, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 4th, 4th, 2nd, 1st, 3rd, 2nd. * * * * * * * * * Norwich home, Falmer years - C'ship 14/15 16/17 . Seasons 4 6. Albion v City (H) from 11/12 @ C: -, -, -, 0-1, -, 5-0 . . W = 1 D = 0 L = 1 memorable match: Season6 (H) - a nap hand against what was considered probable promo rivals. Season6 (H) Championship 29/10/16 - 5-0 ~ Murray 3, Dunk, Knockaert. Was this a six pointer? Well, if not it was certainly a big match against a club well fancied to go straight back into the Prem - at our expense! Chris Hughton had other plans for BHA and comparing his team of 18mths ago, only a few were still in the overall squad today. Stockdale, Bruno, Ince, Stephens, Kayal, LuaLua and O'Grady remained under contract, although the last named was on loan at Burton. Hughton had a stronger group all together with very good cover for most positions. His match-day eighteen was pretty settled and merely altered due to injury or suspension. For this game he put out perhaps the optimum eleven. * match report: Albion's home record against Canaries was not a winning one since our meetings at Withdean. But that hoodoo was vanquished in fine style with a score that will stay a long time in fans memories. Murray got his first early in the contest when pouncing on a mistake by the keeper at a back pass. He got the second goal on the hour mark when nodding in from Skalak's cross after Bong released the winger way down left flank. Then flood gates opened, as Dunk nutted a third from a corner four mins later and Murray got his hat-trick, firing home following another mistake in defence. Hughton pulled him off immediately to raptuous applause. Then swapped his other striker to bolster midfield for the clean sheet. Knockaert later completed the rout, chipping over the hapless goalie as he ran riot on the right once more, while the clock ticked toward the ninety. Hughton said, 'this was a very good victory against a top, top team. These days they don't happen too often, not in this diviion.' Brighton fans were ecstatic and on checking footy apps found BHA had secured a 3-7pt gap above top-bottom p-o spots and +14 GD to boot! Stats; h-t 1-0, goals 6, 60, 64, 73, 84, poss 45%-55%, on target 7-2, off target 2-2, blocks 2-4, corners 2-2, o/s 3-3, fouls 12-10, yellows 1-3, subs 3-3 . att 29,469. Stockdale, Bruno, Duffy, Dunk, Bong, Knockaert (Murphy), Stephens, Sidwell, Skalak, Baldock (Norwood), Murray (Hemed). Champ's P15 . W9 D4 L2 . F23 A9 . Pt31 Po2 . W = 60% L = 13.3% Season5 (H) - not C'ship. Season4 (H) 3/4/15 - L 0-1. There was one hellava scrap going on at top of the table and Albion were now playing one of the main candidates for promotion. It was Good Friday and reputations could be made or broken over Easter with biblical proportions. It had been a very disappointing campaign for Seagulls but Chris Hughton had come in since New Year and baring disaster in the run-in, kinda made 'em safe from relegation. Amex form improved radically in recent weeks and crowds had held up during that torrid decline under Sami Hyypia. Hughton fielded a stronger midfield lately, with Kayal, Stephens & Ince working well as a unit - one holding and two attacking. The biggest problem was with lack of strikers scoring goals but others could be relied upon at the Amex. On the day Albion still went with one up front from a fairly settled line-up. * match report: Oh dear, it was a single goal defeat that typified differences between clubs at the top and those closer to the bottom. On-targets went 4 to 3 for Albion but City netted from their clear-cut chance and also created more in the area than hapless homies. Canaries were quicker out of the blocks but Seagulls held firm and came back into it before half time. In fact during a super period of pressure, all local fans missed was an opening goal. Around the hour mark Norwich sent on a super-sub and he soon provided the centre for an easy goal-scoring opportunity (62min). Hughton responded by introducing impact player LuaLua and later two other recognised front men. But it made little difference to our overall display and visitors knew too much to let it slip as the clock ticked down. A draw was probably a fair result but this is the Championship and fairness is the last thing that determines the final score at any time of the season. Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Halford, Bennett, Kayal (Mackail-Smith), Ince, Stephens, Calderon (LuaLua), O'Grady (Best), Teixeira. Champ's P40 . W10 D15 L15 . F43 A47 . Pt45 Po17 . W = 25% L = 375% Seasons 1-3 (H) - not C'ship. * * * * * Withdean Era: 12 seasons from 1999 to 2011. Seasons 4 02/3, 7 05/6 - Champonship. Season11 09/10 - League One. Season4 14/1/03 (A) - FA Cup R3. Withdean era: Albion v Canaries 0-2, 1-3, 1-2 . . . W = 0 D = 0 L = 3 memorable match: Season4 (H) - mid August an attempting to get results at a higher level. see: Seasons 4, 7, 11 for club & stadium info. Also Dick Knight, Mark McGhee & Gus Poyet.
Norwich - Away, Falmer Years: Prem 19/20 21/22 seasons 9 11 . . C'ship 14/15 16/17, seasons 4 6. Albion record @ Canaries: W = 1 D = 2 L = 1 City v Albion (A) from 17/18: - - 0-1 - 0-0 - < - . . W = 1 D = 1 L = 0 . F1 A0 scorers: Trossard. memorable match: Season9 (A) - a single goal game and winner take the points home. note: for home Falmer Years results & reports scroll further up. Season 12 (6th) (A) onwards - not Premier League. Season11, 5th Premier League (A) Sat 16/10/21 - 0-0 Seagulls were back at Carrow Road and hoping to fly up to high levels on all counts. Canaries had hopped back up to the elite after one term caged in the Championship, so had something to prove as well. Albion were off the nest fast in August, although not really with much of an enhanced squad providing extra elevation. Potter had to rely on previous Prem proven personnel, plus a couple of additions to supplement the squad in Cucurella & Mwepu. Many fringe players went out on loan to SPL, EFL and also clubs abroad. To date BHA were over achieving by past standards and currently reaching for the sky. Meanwhile Daniel Farke remained as manager from those East Anglian's recent abortive season in the Prem, so was known to Brighton fans. His brief was to stay in the div this time around and had spent about 50m to try to help secure status. Pundits took a dim view of prospects from August, so on paper at least City were basically doomed and their meagre points tally reflected such already. * match report: It ended goalless but both sides had chances to win and maybe hosts shoulda edged a cut & thrust affair. Albion began brightest but our performance progressively got less effective as locals upped the ante and held their own. Chances came and went, including an early pen shout by Maupay that VAR checked to no avail. In the second period yellow shirts appeared likely to score and missed a couple of sitters - Duffy cleared off the line. Burn also twice got visitors off the hook with last ditch interventions. The longer it went on the less a single goal result seemed remotely possible. At end of the day we kept a clean sheet, remained unbeaten away and pinched a point too. Potter was first to admit his eleven were off the boil and inserted attack minded subs to break deadlock. However stalemate was order of the day and no Brighton fan was over the moon either, apart from eternal optimists, Prem table anoraks and Sussex lunar-phases worshipers. Lady luck was holding for our south-coast squad, fickle finger of fate still pointed to our advantage and Euro sceptics were now checking football forecasts on an outside bet for continental inclusion come 2022. Stats: ht 0-0, goals nil, poss 35%-65%, on target 3-3, off target 5-4, blocks 7-4, corners 8-4, crosses 22-18, tackles 9-20, fouls 5-14, yellows 3-5, subs 3-3, shape 532-352 weather: sunny . gate: 26,777, away 2015 . MoM: Burn - colossal. team: 1 Sanchez, 24 Duffy Y, 5 Dunk, 33 Burn Y, 34 Veltman Y (2 Lamptey 59), 13 Gross, 14 Lallana Y, 15 Moder (10 Mac Allister 84), 3 Cucurella Y (20 March 66), 9 Maupay, 11 Trossard . bench: 23 Steele, 27 Locadia, 28 Roberts. squad: 4 Webster, 30 Richards . injured: 17 Alzate, 18 Welbeck Prem: P8 . W2 D1 L1 . F4 A3 . W2 D2 L0 . F4 A2 . Pt15 Po4 = 1.87pt/gm . W = 50.0% L = 12.5% Season10 (4th) (A) - not Premier League. Season9, 3rd Premier League (A) Sat 4/7/20 - W 0-1 ~ Trossard PL suspended until restart from 17/6/20 after Sat 11/4/20 postponed. Revised fixture played behind closed doors at lunchtime without fans attending. This match was one of nine run-in games postponed when the PL was suspended from mid March beyond the usual mid May finish due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Albion had previously travelled to Canaries aviary on several occasions this century, including for an FA Cup R3 tie during Jan '03 when both sides were playing at level2. Now we currently met in the Prem, each club having experienced a rise from lower league fare, albeit pre-Falmer, when BHA were moving on from an inferior position, both geographically & statistically. Unfortunately staying in the Prem was proving somewhat harder than actually reaching these dizzy heights. Brighton fans of Goldstone vintage had saved the club from extinction, put in hard earned cash to keep it afloat and regularly been there on peaceful protests and annual marches in pursuit of the Amex. We not merely wanted the club to survive but fight as hard as possible to rise in PL status, having finally gotten, through fan power, into the promised land. Unfortunately questions remained about whether this squad was up to the task latterly set by the BHA board for consolidating in the Prem. Ongoing decisions made by technical director's dept and coaching staff were therefore open to scrutiny and analysis. Consequences would prove dire for ultimate failure of providing positive results. * match report: Albion got the vital win to ease d-z worries and reach that points total which ensured survival last term. It wasn't clever or pretty but at end of the day three points were crucial compared to another ok display with nought to show for it. Trossard bagged the winner from a Seagulls counter when fed by Mooy (25min). In the second period City subbed first so Potter responded by going to 541 and holding out for victory against late progress by deflated hosts. Brighton couldn't put the game to bed, albeit a lunchtime affair of low quality. The old problem of creating and taking chances is one to still be overcome if BHA are to shape up as a mid table outfit next term. Albion labour against sides that press, where as top teams tend to allow more room to play football. Potter would know by now types of players needed to complete a squad able to hit the ground running for our fourth season in the elite. Whether Dan Ashworth & co can obtain these signings in coming weeks will probably determine where we'll finish next time around nine months later. stats: shape 4141-442, ht 0-1, goal 25, poss 58%-42%, on target 1-2, off target 4-3, blocked 7-3, o/s 4-0, crosses 17-14, corners 0-2, tackles 14-11, fouls 11-13, yellows 2-2, subs 4-5 (5/9) . MoM - Lamptey . Gate - 0 . Weather - windy, cloud. 1 Ryan, 2 Lamptey Y (4 Duffy 94), 15 Webster, 5 Dunk, 33 Burn, 18 Mooy (30 Bernardo 72), 8 Bissouma (10 Mac Allister 79), 24 Propper, 11 Trossard (6 Stephens 79), 44 Connolly (13 Gross 72 Y), 7 Maupay . Bench: (5/9) - 27 Button, 22 Montoya, 20 March, 17 Murray. Squad: 16 Jahanbakhsh, 23 Schelotto, 25 Kayal . Injured: 19 Izquiredo, 46 Alzate. Prem: P33 . W5 D6 L5 . F19 A19 . W3 D6 L8 . F16 A25 . Pt36 Po15 = 1.09pt/gm. Wins = 24.2%, Loss = 39.3% Seasons 7-8 (1st-2nd) (A) - not Premier League. City @ Home: Prem, Carrow Road. Seasn . W D L . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm %Pt . . W% L% 22/23 onwards - not Premier League. 21/22 - 3 3 13 . 12 43 -31 . 12 20 = 0.63 54.5 . 15.7 68.4 - Dean Smith & Daniel Farke 20/21 - not Premier League. 19/20 - 4 3 12 . 19 37 -18 . 15 20 = 0.78 71.4 . 21.0 63.1 - Daniel Farke, finish 27/7/20. 16/17 - 18/19 not Premier League - see below Season6. 15/16 - 6 5 08 . 26 30 -04 . 23 19 = 1.21 67.6 . 31.5 42.1 - Alex Neil. 14/15 - not Premier League, see below Season4. 13/14 - 6 6 07 . 17 18 -01 . 24 18 = 1.26 72.7 . 31.5 36.8 - Chris Hughton. * * * * * * * * * * * Norwich away, Falmer years - C'ship 14/15 16/17 . Seasons 4 6. City v Albion (A) from 11/12 @ C: -, -, -, 3-3, -, 2-0 . . W = 0 D = 1 L = 1 memorable match: Season4 (A) - scored three away but no cigar. Season6 (A) Championship 21/4/17 - L 2-0. Albion were in demand for being covered by live tv this term and it was the 3rd April Friday in a row that Seagulls support travelled to an away fixture. The club had arranged free coaches too, as a thank you to many thousands of faithful fans who followed BHA all over the country during recent campaigns. Visits to Carrow Road were as rare as canary eggs in seagull nests but was a place Chis Hughton knew well. And he was hoping to better his record there as a promotion winning manager in the Prem. With 3 matches to go Albion headed the division by 7 points, had just won automatic promotion and needed 3 points to secure the Championship title. * match report: Table toppers crashed to defeat in bizarre circumstances, making it another week to wait prior to winning silverware. Stockdale scored 2 ogs, within 20 first half minutes, when twice the ball struck woodwork and bounced off his back into the net (18, 39 min). In truth opposition did not register a shot on target but BHA had an off day in attack and perhaps a goalless draw was more appropriate on balance of stats. Hughton got Seagulls to up the ante in the second period, although this merely produced another 'failed to score' for seasonal records. Hughton made a double swap a little over the hour mark going to 442 and later changed strikers but at end of the day it made no difference to the result. It was an occasion when key goalscorers didn't net and unfortunately others who got forward at set pieces etc also couldn't take advantage from having equal possession. Hughton said, 'whether the performance was down to emotions of the week I don't know. We can normally go through that and show our quality.' Travelling support weren't too deflated and gave good account of singing, chanting and generally celebrating gaining elevation to the elite next term. But surely Albion wanted to be no.1 at conclusion of this level2 campaign didn't they? Stats; h-t 2-0, goals 18,39, poss 50%-50%, on target 0-3, off target 7-8, corners 2-5, o/s 2-2, fouls 9-13, yellows 1-1, subs 2-3 . att 26,932. Stockdale, Bruno, Huenemeier, Dunk, Pocognoli, Knockaert (Hemed), Norwood (Stephens), Sidwell, March, Murphy, Murray (Akpom). Champ's P44 . W28 D8 L8 . F73 A38 . Pt92 Po1 . W = 63.6% L = 18.1% Season5 (A) - not C'ship. Season4 (A) 22/11/14 - 3-3 ~ Bruno, LuaLua, Colunga. It was the first time we'd played City since they'd tasted the big time, after them shooting up two levels from when we met in League One days back at Withdean. But with a third of this second tier campaign already completed and merely six more fixtures until the halfway stage on Boxing Day, it was Albion who were now having experience of a relegation threat. Seagulls away record this term was very average to date; lwlldddl. Sami Hyypia was tearing his blond wig to pieces trying to squeeze extra points out on the road, although operating with 451 shape and a tiny striker up front, it was proving a tad difficult to implement his master plan for a consecutive p-o finish! In truth BHA were merely six points below top half of the table but gaining three pts either at home or away had remained elusive since August. Tony Bloom had also raised his head above the parapet and spoken out in positive vein concerning the immediate future. Then again, it was his policy to take an interest in potential signings and to date he'd not spent big money, nor bought a bargain, preferring to take players on loan! This contest followed the international break, so there was no excuse now about players not knowing other members of this current piecemeal squad. On the day we assumed the best eleven started. * match report: The first half hour was tedious, as both teams sought to find weakness in opponents game and exploit for an opener. Then Colunga outpaced his man to provide an inch perfect cross for Bruno to nod home (33min). That woke hosts up and they levelled from a header a little too easily (38min). Early in the second period with Albion again back pedaling, City took the lead from a worldy shot into the top corner (49min). Seagulls kept plugging away and LuaLua was pick of visitors side when driving in a trademark punt (66min) to make it even steven. Calde replaced injured Bruno and a few moments later Baldock was brought down in the area. Up stepped Colunga to stroke Albion ahead from the spot (77min). He later came off for Halford as the clock ticked down. But Canaries still posed a serious threat from chances created and pulled things back to parity with a speculative dig late in the day (85min). In stoppage one of the home unit was sent off but seeing six goals scored was enough for anybody today. Sami said, 'there were a lot of positives but we let Norwich come more and more into the game. Defensively we didn't do the right things.' Stockdale, Bruno (Calderon), Greer, Hughes, J Bennett, Gardner, Ince, Forster-Caskey, Baldock, Colunga (Halford), LuaLua. Champ's P18 . W3 D9 L6. F20 A23 . Pt18 Po20 . W = 16.6% L = 33.3% Seasons 1-3 (A) - not C'ship. * * * * * Withdean Era: 12 seasons from 1999 to 2011. Seasons 4 02/3, 7 05/6 - Champonship. Season11 09/10 - League One. Season4 14/1/03 (A) - FA Cup R3. Withdean era: Canaries v Albion 0-1, 3-0, 4-1 . . . W = 1 D = 0 L = 2 3-1 FA Cup R3. memorable match: Season4 (A) - Xmas in East Anglia and we returned with a nice present. Noughties last there - 24/11/09 (A) League One. A thrashing at lower level, ending three league visits to Carrow Road this decade in 2 divs. 14/1/03 (A) FAC3. This k-o tie came quickly after our initial 'surprise' victory visit on Boxing Day '02 in the C'ship. see: Seasons 4, 7, 11 for club & stadium info. Also Steve Coppell, Mark McGhee & Gus Poyet.
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