Brighton were taught a harsh lesson on their Europa League debut as Greek champions AEK Athens ran out 3-2 winners after a pulsating encounter at the Amex Stadium.
Substitute Ezequiel Ponce struck the winner on the counter-attack six minutes from the end of normal time as Roberto De Zerbi’s side failed to heed the signs after falling behind twice previously in the first half.
Joao Pedro equalised from the penalty spot in the first period then again in the second, both times after VAR had intervened in Brighton’s favour.
The hosts had the better of the play but they lacked the clinical edge of AEK, who scored with two excellent finishes from set-pieces. The first goal was a superb header from Djibril Sidibe, followed by a sliding finish from Mijat Gacinovic as Brighton were undone by nerves and their own naivety.
The opening goal came after 11 minutes and was against the early run of the play.
AEK’s first attack saw them win a corner on the left after a low cross was turned behind. As the ball was whipped in, no one had picked up the lurking Sidibe who with a late dash into the box caught Brighton out with a superb 15-yard diving header that whistled past Jason Steele.
De Zerbi’s side had been badly caught out, and seconds later it could have been two. Levi Garcia, who would torment Brighton in the first period with pace and clever movement, raced beyond the defence and went through on goal, but Garcia’s tame finish was too close to Steele.
Garcia wasted another glorious chance to double the lead from an almost identical position, this time slipping his effort just beyond the far post.
Pedro nodded wide from a free header inside the six-yard box as Brighton finally put together an attack to concern the AEK defence, but within a minute he had made amends for his profligacy.
When defender Ehsan Hajsafi dangled a leg as Pedro looked to cut inside to shoot the referee initially booked the striker for diving. But after a pitchside VAR review the booking was rescinded, Pedro stepped up and coolly rolled his penalty beyond Cican Stankovic to score Brighton’s first European goal.
At that stage it appeared that they had had their reprieve for the way they had left themselves vulnerable to AEK’s threat, but five minutes before the break there was another fine delivery from a set-piece and another critical lapse in concentration.
Brighton held a high line on the edge of their own box as a free-kick was whipped in from 40 yards out, but as blue shirts charged back towards their own goal none could prevent Gacinovic from sliding to get a foot on the ball to turn it beyond Steele.
There was still time for Jan-Paul Van Hecke to deny Orbelin Pineda what would have been a deserved third for AEK on the stroke of half-time.
There was relief then around the Amex when the referee was directed pitch-side for another VAR review after Pedro’s tumble inside the box under Damian Szymanski’s challenge had at first been waved on.
As in the first half, the decision was overturned, and Pedro got to his feet to replicate his earlier composed finish to draw Brighton level again.
De Zerbi was booked for remonstrating too forcefully on the touchline, before Pedro was handed the chance to seal his hat-trick and an opening night win when he spring the offside trap and went one-on-one with Stankovic. This time the goalkeeper got the better of their duel.
Then came AEK’s final sting. A raking ball from the back was nodded out wide by Ponce to Niclas Eliasson, who returned the ball to his fellow substitute. Although Steele blocked Ponce’s shot, the rebound ricocheted off the Argentinian and into the net for the winner.
Bournemouth 3-0 Brighton: Unal stars as Cherries continue upward surge
Enes Unal played a crucial role on his full Premier League debut as Bournemouth saw off Brighton 3-0 at the Vitality Stadium.
Having teed up Marcos Senesi’s early opener – the defender’s fourth goal of the season – Unal sent a bullet header into the top-left corner after the break to double Bournemouth’s advantage in Sunday’s south coast derby.
The introduction of Julio Enciso from the bench in the second half saw Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton enjoy more spark in the final third, but the result was put beyond all doubt when Justin Kluivert slammed home late on.
Tenth-placed Bournemouth are now four points clear of Brighton and with Chelsea above them, with their hopes of European football still intact.
The Cherries started brightly, with Unal bursting down the right-hand side before looking to find fellow centre-forward Dominic Solanke, but a goal-saving challenge from Lewis Dunk prevented a certain opener.
Bournemouth kept up the pressure and opened the scoring after just 13 minutes as Senesi pounced in the box from a corner to nod home from just a few yards out after Unal had won the flick-on at the near post.
Brighton grew into it after going behind and had an excellent chance to find an equaliser as Facundo Buonanotte danced through the challenges of the opposition defence inside the box, only to fail to beat Mark Travers.
Andoni Iraola’s side should have made it two after Alex Scott dispossessed Igor Julio before pulling it back to Unal, but the Turkish striker dragged his effort wide from just inside the penalty area.
Just a few minutes after the break, the Cherries could have doubled their lead as Kluivert burst into the box with Antoine Semenyo waiting unmarked at the back post, but the Dutch forward opted to shoot from a tight angle and could only find the side netting.
Their second did arrive in the 52nd minute – Unal marking his first league start in style when he powered in a header after meeting Dango Ouattara’s floated cross to the back post.
Enciso twice went close as Brighton searched for a way back into the contest, striking off target from the edge of the box before sending a stunning attempt just wide.
Kluivert added further gloss to Bournemouth’s victory, however, driving in from the right and lashing in with his left foot to wrap up a comprehensive triumph.
Iraola’s European hopes firmly alive
The Cherries have now extended their unbeaten run at home to six games in the Premier League, with the Vitality Stadium becoming a bit of a fortress in recent months.
Bournemouth, who have now achieved their record points tally in the Premier League (48), are in with an outside chance of qualifying for Europe, with Andoni Iraola’s men moving back into the top half of table, just six points behind Manchester United in sixth.
Unal’s goal and assist might give Iraola something to think about in terms of team selection, too, as the Bournemouth boss looks to finish his maiden season in the competition on a high note, though a late injury for Semenyo, who had to be taken off on a stretcher, will perhaps dampen the mood somewhat.
De Zerbi’s debutants fail to deliver
De Zerbi handed full Premier League debuts to Mark O’Mahony and Odeluga Offiah, making seven changes overall as the Seagulls looked to bounce back from their heavy defeat to Manchester City last time out.
However, those alterations did not have the desired impact, and it is now just two wins from their last 16 Premier League games for the Seagulls, with De Zerbi’s side only beating Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United on the road this season.
Brighton have secured just two points from a possible 21 available in their previous seven fixtures, and a second season in Europe is surely beyond them now.
Kane gunning for Lewandowski's single-season Bundesliga goal record
Harry Kane has his eyes set on Robert Lewandowski's single-season Bundesliga goal record after scoring twice in Bayern Munich's 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, though he knows he needs "to get a move on".
Kane scored in both halves on Saturday to take his tally to 42 goals this season across all competitions, also reaching the 400-goal mark at senior level for clubs and country.
The striker scored 280 of those goals for Tottenham, holding the honour of being the club's all-time leading scorer, while he is also the most prolific player in England history with 62 goals for the Three Lions.
With 35 goals in 31 Bundesliga appearances this season, Kane now has his eyes set on another piece of history.
Former Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski holds the record for the most goals scored in a single Bundesliga campaign, netting 41 times in 2020-21.
Asked about the possibility of breaking that record with just three games remaining in Bayern's league campaign, Kane said: "It's possible, but obviously I have to get a move on!
"I've got to maybe score a few goals next week. It's there, it's in touching distance.
"It depends on the last few games of course, but it was nice to add to it today and score a couple of goals to help the team."
Bayern next host Real Madrid in the first leg of a Champions League semi-final tie on Tuesday, before travelling to face Stuttgart on Saturday.
Pochettino says VAR 'damaging' English football as Chelsea denied Villa win
Mauricio Pochettino claimed VAR is "damaging" English football after Chelsea saw a potential winning goal chalked off at the end of their 2-2 Premier League draw with Aston Villa.
Despite a bright performance, Chelsea found themselves 2-0 down at half-time on Saturday with Marc Cucurella putting through his own net before Morgan Rogers added Villa's second.
Goals from Noni Madueke and Conor Gallagher dragged Chelsea level as they penned Villa back after the break, but the Blues were enraged in stoppage time when Axel Disasi saw a potential winner ruled out.
Disasi headed home in the fifth minute of stoppage time to spark wild celebrations among the visiting Chelsea fans, only for referee Craig Pawson to disallow the goal following a pitchside VAR review, ruling Benoit Badiashile pushed Diego Carlos in the build-up.
With that incident coming just one week after Chelsea were denied a penalty in their FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City despite Jack Grealish appearing to handle Cole Palmer's free-kick, Pochettino has had enough.
"Everyone that was watching the game will feel disappointed. The referee said it was a foul and disallowed the goal after going to the VAR to confirm," he told TNT Sports.
"The referee is unbelievable and it's ridiculous. It is difficult to accept these types of things. In the semi-final it was handball and it was no penalty, the referee didn't check it.
"It is painful as it has damaged English football and I think Villa players and their fans didn't understand why the goal was disallowed.
"They said it was a foul and if you see the challenge… if we go into every single challenge like this and it is going to be a foul, we wouldn't finish the game with 11 players.
"We can talk about the performance or the decision – it is damaging the game."
Pochettino had no complaints about Chelsea's performance, though, as they avoided defeat for just the fourth time in 51 Premier League games when trailing by two or more goals at half-time.
The Blues previously achieved that feat in a 3-3 draw with Sheffield Wednesday in 1992, a memorable 2-2 draw with Tottenham in 2016 and another 3-3 draw with West Brom in 2020.
Chelsea racked up 21 shots to Villa's nine and put up 1.57 expected goals (xG) to the hosts' 1.1, with Nicolas Jackson and Palmer spurning glorious chances in either half.
"The performance was very good," Pochettino said. "We played really well and it is true in the first half we conceded too easily.
"To play Villa, who are fighting for the top four, I am pleased with the team. Now, we have to move on and the headlines will be about the disallowed goal."
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