The Media Review: Spoils shared with Fulham

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The media reflects on our 1-1 draw with the Cottagers.

Nick Szczepanik

2025-08-17T09:50+01:00

Kaoru Mitoma controls the ball on the wing against Fulham. 📷 by Simon Roe.

The 1-1 draw at home to Fulham was not the start to a season that Albion fans wanted. But most of the media reports agreed that Fabian Hurzeler’s men had shaded the match against our bogey side.

Ed Elliott wrote on The Telegraph website that “Fulham snatched a 1-1 Premier League draw against Brighton at the Amex Stadium. Brazilian forward Muniz pounced six minutes beyond the 90 when the Seagulls failed to deal with a Harry Wilson corner.

“Albion were on course to begin the season with three points after Matt O’Riley converted a 55th-minute penalty following Sander Berge’s foul on Georginio Rutter. Fulham had plenty of the ball after falling behind but rode their luck and rarely tested Albion goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen before the late twist.

“The Seagulls led within 10 minutes of the restart. Rutter went to ground after tangling with Berge as he burst into the 18-yard area and O’Riley, who scored from the spot in a 4-1 win at Tottenham on the final day of last season, confidently dispatched the ball into the bottom left corner.”

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Albion were denied an opening day victory at the Amex by a resolute Fulham side, who left it until the final kick of the game to cancel out Matt O'Riley's penalty kick.

In The Sunday Times, Gary Jacob wrote that “Brighton will kick themselves. They had several good chances to extend their lead after Matt O’Riley converted a penalty awarded when Sander Berge clumsily tripped Georginio Rutter.

"Minteh struck wildly over when the ball fell kindly when Calvin Bassey tackled Mitoma running on goal. Bernd Leno recovered to grab the ball that spun behind him when he spilt a shot from Diego Gomez, who later pressed the goalkeeper into conceding possession to him, but he could not finish.”

The Mail on Sunday reported that “For the opening game of a new season, this one had a strong whiff of déjà vu about it. With only one new signing among the 22 players that started the match, you could have been forgiven for thinking that you had been handed a copy of last season’s team sheet.

“The two clubs had spent much of 2024-25 together in the mid-table mini-league, and they could not be separated here either, thanks to Rodrigo Muniz’s equaliser for Fulham with almost the last kick of the match.

“And that, of course, was another throwback to last season, when Brighton dropped 22 points from winning positions. One of the few new arrivals, Brighton’s ex-Anderlecht set-play coach Yannick Euvrard, could only watch in horror as Lewis Dunk’s attempt to head away Harry Wilson’s corner fell for Muniz to smash home.

“Fabian Hurzeler, the Brighton head coach, has told his squad to aim for the top five this time despite the departure - to Chelsea, where else? - of Joao Pedro, last season’s joint top scorer. But top-five teams rarely let winning positions slip away as easily as the Seagulls did here. They missed chances to double their lead - while £50m teenage forward duo Stefanos Tzimas and Charalampos Kostoulas did not even make the bench - then lost concentration in the seventh minute of added time.”

John Brewin of The Guardian referred to recent online fan concerns. “For transfer devotees, the major news had been Carlos Baleba starting in Brighton’s midfield; the expectation is he stays, give or take a steeple-high offer Tony Bloom cannot refuse. Within an aggressive midfield battle, Baleba’s quality was often a cut above.

“His defensive work was missed once subbed off in the second half … for Diego Gómez. The Paraguayan showed considerable attacking prowess while struggling to meet the defensive detail. James Milner, who hits 40 in January, also arrived, and was unable to stem the Fulham flow. As 90 minutes arrived, another sub, Brajan Gruda, blew the latest decent Brighton chance, caught in two minds, a familiar moment they would come to regret.”

Isabelle Barker of The Sun on Sunday wrote that “Fans were left sweating over who would take Brighton’s penalties after they sold Joao Pedro to Chelsea.

“A whopping 15 of the Brazilian striker’s 30 goals for Brighton came from the spot but boss Hurzeler insisted he had a plan of action for penalty kicks.

“And Hounslow-born O’Riley picked up where Pedro left off, slamming a no-nonsense penalty into the bottom corner.”

But she had also spotted that Muniz ”accidentally celebrated in front of the wrong fans. Late drama saw Fulham win a corner and Muniz lash in Harry Wilson’s delivery from close range.

“Muniz himself had accidentally jumped into the Brighton end to celebrate in the madness, quickly realising his mistake when he was met with abuse instead of jubilation.”

MATT MAKES NO MISTAKE FROM THE SPOT! 🎯 pic.twitter.com/XNdg69IjgP
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) August 16, 2025

On the BBC website, Marissa Thomas trotted out some stats: “Until Fulham's late equaliser, Brighton were heading for a narrow but comfortable win to kick-start their campaign," she wrote.

“That would have been a fifth consecutive victory on the Premier League's opening weekend, but instead they will have to make do with remaining unbeaten in those fixtures.

“James Milner, still going strong at 39, came on as a substitute for his 17th first-matchday appearance, with only Frank Lampard (18) making more in the Premier League.

“Brighton did not look like they missed forward Joao Pedro with winger Yankuba Minteh particularly lively in attack.

“The Gambian had five touches in the opposition box, more than any other Seagulls player, and could be a key figure in his second season with the club.”