Key events
54 min: More Mitoma magic, and Rutter volleys down, and off Williams. Mitoma is tearing Forest, well, a new one, as they say in Notts.
52 min: All Brighton now, Jota giving the ball away to Mitoma, whose cross almost sets up an own-goal. Murillo does well, such an instinctive defender.
49 min: Mitoma is really in it now…his ball inside finds Welbeck, who ducks and weaves and at point-blank range, Sels makes a fine save. Welbeck has so much as a striker though has never been the best finisher. He’s a manager’s dream, nonetheless. Top pro, nice man, too, from brief experience.
47 min: …..and William is immediately booked for a handball after Mitoma’s pass. Yates’ first appearance sees him thwart Rutter. Were Forest really so bad they needed three players coming out?
Back away we go:
46 min: Three Forest subs: Moreno, Elanga, Ward-Prowse off. Jota Silva, Wales right-Neco Williams and captain Ryan Yates are on…
John Magee got in touch over a piece I wrote this weekend: “it seems there has been an uptick in the number of players chiming in about the increase in games they are expected to play. Just wondering / pondering when or IF we could start to see the agents for some of the top players start to negotiate not just financial aspects of contracts but also limits to games or even minutes they play in each particular competion. Forgetting for a moment how this might impact their availabiity for international games, it might add an interesting dynamic to league games as the end of season closes in if Pep has to ponder the fact that Rodri only has 20 minutes in his yearly contract left to play…”
Paul Griffin gets in touch: “Good game. That Nuno Spirito Santo has surely the most jazz name in English football doesn’t he? In fact am fairly sure I saw the Nuno Spirito Santo Quartet do a storming post-bop set at the Blue Note on 47 West 63rd one moonlit night in late 58, or maybe 59, as John Coltrane looked on enviously. Although I recall they were blown off the stage by a world-changing set from the Tony Pulis trio. What that cat could do with a set piece can’t be described.”
As as a Bill Evans man, I’d like to see him line up with Eric da Silva Moreira on bass at the Village Vanguard, the room full of smoke, cologne and perfume.
Half-time: Brighton 2-1 Nottingham Forest
Brighton were scrabbling in the dirt, clueless. Forest were excellent, in command. Then came that fine header from Jack Hinshelwood, and that wonderful free-kick from Danny Welbeck. That’s football, and that’s the talent Brighton have.
45+5 min: Nuno looks most unhappy. His gameplan has gone to pot. Meanwhile, Danny Welbeck has a problem. Will he be back for the second half?
45+3 min: Joel Veltman swings at a decent chance to make it three. Hurzeler is prowling the sideline now.
45+1 min: Four minutes were added on. Brighton will want more.
Goal! Brighton 2-1 Nottingham Forest (Welbeck, 45)
What a free-kick, clipped like a golf shot beyond the wall and into the bottom, far corner of the net. Ya beauty! What a turnaround.
44 min: Mitoma in the game now, brought down by Aina, and that’s a yellow to the Forest defender.
43 min: That didn’t come against the run of play, but it did come against expectation; that was the first time Brighton put together a move and Forest were slack.
Goal! Brighton 1-1- Nottingham Forest (Hinshelwood, 42)
That’s a beauty. Van Hecke’s ball and a climbing, crashing header beyond Sels. It did take a spin off Gibbs-White.
40 min: Adingra plays the ball to Rutter…and out. Oh dear. Brighton continue to disappoint.
39 min: Danny Welbeck booked for dissent as he complains that James Ward-Prowse has tripped up Rutter cynically. Referee Rob Jones is having none of it.
37 min: Brighton begin to find some hustle and bustle: Rutter eventually turns and shoots wide.
Justin Kavanagh has been in touch: “I was shocked to learn that Fabian Hürzeler is just 31! But googlieying him on the Interweb, I see that he started his playing career (at Bayern Munich, no less) at the ripe old age of 11, and “effectively ended” his playing career at 23 (if that was due to injury, which it surely must have been, shouldn’t it read “defectively ended”?). Anyway, this all got me thinking that we should now have some kind of “modern-day-footballer years” system of aging professional footie types, akin to the “dog years” method, where you multiply by seven. Let’s say these young football proteges live one and a half times the lives most of us mortals lead: So Herr Hürzeler is really 46 going on 47?”
35 min: In Germany, Hurzeler had a reputation for being a touchline whirling dervish but he’s behaving himself here. He’s on one yellow card this season, received during the 1-1 draw at Arsenal. He’s sat in his seat here, and seems to be paying plenty of attention to the screen.
33 min: Adingra has to rush back to clear up one of those Forest counters. Then comes a roe between Moreno and the Brighton subs as he takes a throw. Perhaps he was distracted; he launches it behind for a goal kick.
31 min: Mitoma – at last – gets some space, good ball in too, but Forest clear when no Brighton forward puts in enough of a charge.
30 min: Brighton corner. Rutter is first to Estupinan’s ball but heads over.
28 min: Mitoma has been a passenger in this game. Forest’s midfield is just too strong for Brighton, whose fans are becalmed.
27 min: Gibbs-White slides in to win the ball and Brighton continue to struggle. The Forest fans are even doing the “olé” chant.
24 min: Baleba, guilty for the penalty, is now booked for hauling down Elliot Anderson in midfield.
22 min: Adingra’s chance to be offside as Brighton choose to go long. Fabian Hurzeler looks unhappy. His team are being strangled.
21 min: Hudson-Odoi with a terrible miss after Forest squeeze play. To spare his blushes, he was well offside.
19 min: Brighton are not at it at all here, and the credit for that must go to Nottingham Forest. Nuno has made them difficult to play against.
17 min: Oof, nasty: Adingra on Moreno. A yellow card only but it was high. if not vicious. And actually, not even a yellow?
16 min: Eric Petersen: “Good morning from Pittsburgh! Looking for a fact-check here – I’m of the opinion that Fabian Hurzeler bears more than a passing resemblance to a similarly-aged Gary Oldman. Nuno Spirito Santo has always reminded me of Jean Reno in his Leon: The Professional look. So I already have an image of a Forest win, followed by the managers meeting to exchange pleasantries, and Nuno locking eyes with his counterpart and growling, “This…is for Mathilda.”
The 1990s – the golden era of films.
14 min: You might not think Chris Wood is the type to be good at penalties but maby that’s some prejudice against tall lads. That was a beauty. Nuno’s selection of Hudson-Odoi has paid off already.
Goal! Brighton 0-1 Nottingham Forest (Wood, 13)
No doubts there, either. Drilled left, and Verbruggen has no chance.
Penalty to Forest!
Gibbs-White on the burst, the ball slipped inside to Hudson-Odoi, and Baleba is clumsy. That’s a stonewaller. Baleba knows too.
9 min: Closest call yet. Rutter slots in Adringra and the ball is zipped across goal. Welbeck was the target but he couldn’t get there.
7 min: A few high tackles going in and the ref decides he wants everyone to calm down, that’s there’s been too much rough stuff. Spoilsport
6 min: Estupinan on the burst. Good to see him back after injuries last season. At one point, he looked the next £60m sale for Brighton. On the the bench, Hurzeler is a ball of energy, and engaging tech, looking at the screens.
4 min: Morgan Gibbs-White climbs well, and looks to take a knock but he will be OK to continue. A quick free-kick sends Hudson-Odoi away. Too quick: he was offside.
2 min: A poor corner is cleared but Brighton continue to push upwards. Forest probably happy to sit back. It worked at Anfield, after all.
Away we go at the Amex
1 min: Good noise from the Forest fans, with Mull of Kintyre, again from the golden Cloughie era. Brighton though force a corner.
Nuno speaks, too: ““Anthony [Elanga] and Callum [Hudson-Odoi] – we will try to take advantage of their talent. The idea is to try to be compact and solid, take advantage of our talent, space and creativity – we have to play the game and compete very well.”
Fabian Hurzeler speaks, plenty of praise for Forest: “I think they have great individual players. They have a good style of play. They have a good compactness. They defend well. They have very good transition moments, so when they win the ball they move it quickly. They made a great start in the Premier League and I’m not surprised. It will be a big challenge for us.”
For Nottingham Forest, it’s been a weekend of remembrance. It was 20 years ago on Friday that Brian Clough died.
Joao Pedro is in the Brighton squad but on the bench, and Callum Hudson-Odoi starts for Nottingham Forest after scoring the winner at Liverpool. Anthony Elanga is in the forward line, too. Simon Adingra replaces Yankuba Minteh on the wing, in tandem with Kaoru Mitoma. Jack Hinshelwood moves from left-back into midfield – such a talent – as the mighty Pervis Estupinan makes a long-awaited return.
The starting teams
Brighton: Verbruggen, Veltman, Dunk, Van Hecke, Estupinan, Baleba, Hinshelwood, Rutter, Adingra, Mitoma, Welbeck. Subs: Steele, Julio, Webster, Kadioglu, Wieffer, Minteh, Enciso, Pedro, Ferguson.
Nottingham Forest: Sels, Murillo, Anderson, Gibbs-White, Wood, Hudson-Odoi, Ward-Prowse, Moreno, Elanga, Milenkovic, Aina. Subs: Miguel, Morato, Williams, Awoniyi, Dominguez, Da Silva Moreira, Jota, Yates, Sosa.
Last time out for both teams.
Early team news
Joao Pedro continues to be a doubt – he missed the last two matches, and that’s Hurzeler’s problem in finding that goal. Brajan Gruda, Solly March, James Milner and Matt O’Riley are all long-term absentees.
For Forest, Wily Boly and Ibrahim Sangare are likely to be missing.
Preamble
How to follow Anfield for Nottingham Forest? A first win since 1969 was the shock of the season so far, and it will take something fairly seismic to surpass it. Nuno is the Forest manager that many doubted, and many tipped for relegation. An unbeaten start to the season suggests otherwise.
Meanwhile, Brighton have begun brightly under Fabian Hurzeler, similarly unbeaten. Their manager’s 31, you know. Anyway, they’ve been playing fine football, if slightly bereft of the cutting edge that Graham Potter and Roberto de Zerbi often struggled to find.
So, there’s unbeaten records on the line. Let’s call it a draw? Nah, this could be a good, instructive match.
Kick-off 2pm UK time. Join me.
