The opening match of the season saw Brighton and Hove and Fulham end in a 1-1 stalemate this Saturday at The Amex Stadium.
The second half started positively for Brighton and Hove as Matthew O’Reilly converted a penalty in the 54th minute to give his team the lead. However, Fulham responded quickly with Rodrigo Muniz scoring the equalizer just six minutes later, in the 60th minute.
Jan van Hecke was the standout player of the match, with the Brighton defender making nine recoveries and clearing six dangerous balls from his area.
Rodrigo Muniz also shone for Fulham, as his goal was pivotal in securing the draw for his team.
Brighton’s coach, Fabian Hürzeler, lined up a 4-5-1 formation with Bart Verbruggen in goal; Mats Wieffer, Jan van Hecke, Lewis Dunk, and Maxim De Cuyper in defense; Carlos Baleba, Yasin Ayari, Yankuba Minteh, Matthew O’Reilly, and Kaoru Mitoma in midfield; with Georginio Rutter leading the attack.
Meanwhile, Fulham, managed by Marco Saraiva da Silva, also fielded a 4-5-1 formation, featuring Bernd Leno in goal; Kenny Tete, Joachim Andersen, Jorge Cuenca, and Calvin Bassey in defense; Sander Berge, Sasa Lukic, Harry Wilson, Joshua King, and Alex Iwobi in midfield; and Raúl Jiménez as the striker.
Samuel Barrott served as the match referee.
In the next round, Brighton will visit Everton while Fulham will face Manchester United at Craven Cottage.
After this draw, Brighton holds the fifth position with 1 point, while Fulham is in fourth place with the same amount of points.
Brighton and Hove Substitutions
68’ 2T – Coming off: Carlos Baleba for Diego Gómez, Georginio Rutter for Danny Welbeck, and Yankuba Minteh for Ferdi Kadioglu
82’ 2T – Coming off: Kaoru Mitoma for Brajan Gruda
86’ 2T – Coming off: Matthew O’Reilly for James Milner
Yellow Cards in Brighton and Hove:
14’ 2T – Kaoru Mitoma (Unsporting behavior), 27’ 2T – Ferdi Kadioglu (Unsporting behavior), and 32’ 2T – Diego Gómez (Unsporting behavior)
Fulham Substitutions
65’ 2T – Coming off: Raúl Jiménez for Rodrigo Muniz and Sander Berge for Thomas Cairney
66’ 2T – Coming off: Alex Iwobi for Adama Traoré
76’ 2T – Coming off: Joshua King for Emile Smith Rowe
83’ 2T – Coming off: Jorge Cuenca for Timothy Castagne
Yellow Cards in Fulham:
30’ 1T – Calvin Bassey (Holding an opponent to prevent advancing) and 47’ 2T – Thomas Cairney (Unsporting behavior)