The Media Review: Points are shared with Forest

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Four goals and three red cards meant there was plenty to report on Sunday.

Nick Szczepanik

2024-09-23T10:00+01:00

Jack Hinshelwood scored his first goal of the Premier League season with a wonderful header. 📷 by Bennett Dean.

There are no prizes for guessing what led every media report of Albion’s 2-2 draw at home to Nottingham Forest - of course it was the 83rd-minute flashpoint that ended in red cards for Forest captain Morgan Gibbs-White and bosses Fabian Hurzeler and Nuno Espirito Santo.

With neither coach speaking to the media afterwards, not much light could be shed on the whys and wherefore of that incident. But there was plenty of praise for what went on up to that point.

Henry Clark of The Daily Mail thought it was “a crying shame Gibbs-White’s dismissal will overshadow a thoroughly entertaining game that started promisingly for the visitors.

“Chris Wood sent Bart Verbruggen the wrong way from the spot. But suddenly the red wall which Forest had used so effectively to secure their first win against Liverpool at Anfield since 1969 last week crumbled in front of Espirito Santo's eyes on the stroke of half-time.

Morgan Gibbs-White was sent off for a second yellow card, which he received for a rash challenge on Joao Pedro. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

“First, Forest switched off from a short corner by the hosts. When defender Nikola Milenkovic found himself occupied by Danny Welbeck, Brighton's more obvious attacking threat, Jack Hinshelwood sensed an opportunity. He snuck around the back and produced a thumping header past goalkeeper Matz Sels.

“Then, a few minutes later, the hosts turned the game on its head. The tricky Kaoru Mitoma drew a foul from Ola Aina just over 20 yards from goal on the stroke of half time. Setting the ball beyond the far post, Welbeck curled a brilliant free kick into the far corner. Sels didn’t move a muscle.”

Hector Nunns of The Daily Mirror saw “a see-saw Premier League encounter that you could not take your eyes off.”

He continued: “Somewhere amid the drama of the three red cards, a Sunday afternoon thriller. With the outcome being another statement of what a great start to this Premier League season these sides are having.

Danny Welbeck scored a stunning free-kick to put Albion 2-1 up against Forest. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

“Both teams are still unbeaten after five games – in Brighton’s case for the first time in their top-flight history and for Nottingham Forest, for the first time since 1995.

“Teenager Jack Hinshelwood and veteran Danny Welbeck – 14 years between them – turned it round for Brighton before Forest sub Ramon Sosa scored his first goal for the club.

“In the 42nd minute it was homegrown teenager Hinshelwood that came up trumps. Centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke swung over a cross from the right and Hinshelwood rose like an old-school centre-forward to power a header back into the opposite corner.

“And incredibly Brighton were ahead at the break. Kaoru Mitoma was fouled by Ola Aina as he surged towards the area – for which the defender was booked.

“And from the free-kick Welbeck, 33, playing some of the best football of his injury-affected career, curled a 25-yard beauty past a motionless Sels and into the far corner of the net. It was only a fourth goal direct from a free-kick scored by Brighton in 271 Premier League games.

Danny Welbeck stands over a free-kick before bending it into the bottom right corner. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

“Five minutes into the second half and Welbeck so nearly danced his way through the defence after good work from Mitoma – but was denied by the outstretched right leg of Sels.”

The Daily Telegraph suggested that “it was as if Brighton and Nottingham Forest were determined to make the BBC think twice about automatically scheduling Manchester City’s clash with Arsenal first on Match of the Day.

“Forest took the lead after 13 minutes when Jones ruled that Carlos Baleba had fouled Callum Hudson-Odoi as both competed for a loose ball. Chris Wood, once on loan to Brighton in their League One days, converted the penalty.

“Brighton answered with a sustained spell of pressure, Georginio Rutter glancing a header over the bar and Simon Adingra shooting wide, and levelled after 42 minutes. Jan Paul van Hecke crossed from the right and Jack Hinshelwood timed his arrival perfectly to head his first goal of the season powerfully past Matz Sels.

"Two minutes later, Danny Welbeck put the Seagulls in front, curling a 22-yard free kick past Sels after Ola Aina had brought down Kaoru Mitoma. It was Brighton’s first goal direct from a free kick since September 2022, and called into question Forest’s scouting - Welbeck had missed by inches from a similar position against Ipswich Town just eight days ago.”

Jack Hinshelwood rose to meet Jan Paul van Hecke's cross. 📷 by James Boardman.

The i paper noted that Albion’s “midfield seems to get younger and younger. Hinshelwood, 19, is an academy product whose 17 previous Premier League appearances had come mostly at full back, but who came through as a midfielder and seems destined to end up back there. Head Coach Fabian Hurzeler praised him last week as a “future leader”.

“Alongside him was the positively ancient Carlos Baleba, 20, who looks like the next in a line of combative Brighton number sixes in the tradition of Yves Bissouma and Moises Caicedo. Both of those were signed for relative pittances, from Lille and Independent Del Valle respectively, before being sold for large profits.

“Cameroon midfielder Baleba was not such a bargain buy, costing £25m in August 2023, again from Lille, who knew what to ask for when Brighton came calling by now. Like Bissouma and Caicedo, he has been a slow burner, but is now beginning to live up to his potential.

“His energy and strength are what marks him out, enabling him to find the space to launch marauding forward runs that energise the Amex crowd.

“He is not, of course, the finished article just yet. Youthful enthusiasm after 11 minutes when he challenged Callum Hudson-Odoi as both competed for a loose ball was interpreted by referee Jones as worth a penalty award. And another challenge on Elliot Anderson led to a yellow card that probably helped Hurzeler to decide to haul him off after an hour. The best, though, is surely to come.”