Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Fulham 1
Albion lost to an 88th minute goal after having had two efforts of their own ruled out for offside.
Deniz Undav and Facundo Buonanotte collided in the cente circle, allowing substitute Manor Solomon to race clear and fire past Robert Sanchez.
Israel international Solomon played under Albion boss Roberto De Zerbi at Shakhtar Donetsk and gave the visitors victory at the Amex Stadium in another match dominated by Brighton.
Solly March and Buonanotte both had second-half goals disallowed for the Seagulls who failed to score in the top flight for the first time since October despite 21 attempts this afternoon.
Fulham, without star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic because of a minor injury, struggled for a foothold in the game for much of the match before the late twist boosted their hopes of European qualification at the expense of Brighton.
The goal was on-loan Solomon’s second in as many matches and moved Marco Silva’s men above Brighton into sixth spot although they have played two games more.
Albion had a hatful of chances during the match the most notable efforts of the first half Alexis Mac Allister’s half volley which was well held by Bernd Leno and then Solly March who curled and effort wide of the far post.
De Zerbi, who berated referee Darren England after the final whistle, had spoken candidly of his desire to bring European football to the Amex on the back of taking 20 points from the last 30 available.
His in-form side began with purpose and intent and mostly controlled proceedings.
Evan Ferguson lashed over and March curled wide early on, while Joel Veltman’s powerful attempt at the end of a well-worked free-kick routine was later blocked by Tim Ream.
Fulham offered almost nothing from an attacking perspective but continued to defend doggedly although they often looked susceptible to being carved open by the Seagulls’ slick interplay.
Cottagers goalkeeper Bernd Leno had to be alert to smother the ball as Ferguson burst through on goal and was then well-positioned to stop Alexis Mac Allister’s stinging volley.
The pattern of play, with Brighton patiently probing as the visitors sat back, persisted into the second half.
Seagulls captain Lewis Dunk headed narrowly off target from an out-swinging March corner before the hosts, who suffered VAR frustration in last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace when Pervis Etupinan incorrectly had a goal ruled out for offside, called for Stockley Park intervention to aid a penalty appeal.
Veltman tumbled in the box under a challenge from Antonee Robinson following Kaoru Mitoma’s low cross but, after Leno denied March from the loose ball, match official England stuck with his decision to award a corner.
With the perceived injustice firing up the home crowd, Albion continued to push forward in search of a breakthrough.
March poked home at the back post after Adam Webster nodded on a Pascal Gross corner but was clearly offside before Leno produced a fine reflex stop to deny Mac Allister’s close-range volley.
Fulham’s top-flight scoring statistics suggest an over-reliance on the absent Mitrovic.
Mitoma was having a good but not a brillant game and that could have been the difference Albion, the Japan international not able to make his trade mark sprint to the by-line whilst leaving a defender in his wake.
Four-goal Bobby De Cordova-Reid was their leading scorer on show on the south coast and he threatened with a blocked attempt during a rare burst forward.
But the one-way traffic was largely unrelenting and Brighton were denied by a flag for a second time in the 77th minute, with Deniz Undav being marginally offside before squaring for fellow substitute Buonanotte to slot in.
German forward Undav then threatened with two quick-fire headers, a glancing effort which flashed wide after a tame close-range attempt.
Albion had never beaten Fulham in the top flight and that run continued following the painful sucker-punch.
After a Seagulls attack broke down as Undav and Buananotte got in a tangle just outside the centre circle, Carlos Vinicicus expertly picked out Solomon was too quick for Veltman and expertly steered a low effort into the right corner before Dunk could lunge into with a block.
Albion had one more good chance to gain parity as a Mac Allister free from 20 yards out in stoppage time hit left hand stantion instead of the back of Leno’s net.
Roberto De Zerbi who was in a very robust exchange with the assistant referee late on was shown the red card post match for something he said to referee Darren England.
Albion drop to 7th in the Premier League as recently as 2009 they have dropped to 18th place in League One!
De Zerbi showed lots of passion throughout the game.
Hove resident and former Albion boss Graham Potter was much more subdued as his Chelsea team lost 0-1 at Stamford Bridge to a Southampton team who hadn’t kept of clean sheet in 28 matches.
But Chelsea had a superb possession ratio. Sound familiar?
Albion’s next Premier League match is at home to West Ham on 4th March, before that they travel to Stoke in the FA Cup on February 28th.
