Some hope. VAR was one of the main talking points in the media following the 1-1 draw against West Ham at the Amex after what looked like a perfectly good goal from Leandro Trossard on his Albion debut was called back and disallowed.
As Tom Farmery wrote in the Mail on Sunday, “in any other season, Leandro Trossard would be celebrating his first two goals at Brighton and an excellent start in English football. Instead he is making do with just the one but it does mean Brighton have four points out of six and are yet to lose.
“Trossard found the net for the first time when he sent a volley past Lukasz Fabianski in the first half only for VAR to rule it out after Dan Burn, who provided the assist, was deemed offside in the initial build-up of the move.
“Burn sent the ball over to Trossard after West Ham failed to clear and the 24-year-old Belgian winger lashed a volley into the bottom right corner.
“Not one West Ham player appealed and there was no fuss in the away end.
“Fast forward a minute later and, with both teams having lined up for the restart, referee Anthony Taylor blew his whistle and disallowed the goal. The message from Stockley Park indicated Burn was offside when the ball was initially played into the West Ham box.
“It was absolutely the right call but because it came so late it felt so, so wrong. Not to mention how it affected West Ham, whose supporters celebrated the decision as though they had been awarded a goal.
“Trossard would need to wait until the 65th minute — 38 minutes after his first was chalked off — before a legitimate chance of his counted.”
Former Albion programme columnist Paul Jiggins quoted boss Graham Potter’s reaction to the VAR decision in The Sun.
“Seagulls boss Potter said: ‘The VAR is there for those decisions - it doesn’t matter if it’s a millimetre or a yard offside.
“’It was not pleasant as it changes the atmosphere in the stadium. But this is something we have to deal with.
“’I’m sure it will happen again at some stage of the season and we have to be ready to deal with it. It’s a challenge because it is an emotional game.
“’In an ideal world you’d want the decision to be made quicker. But I’m not going to be too critical.’
“Belgian Trossard, signed after helping Genk to their title last term, scored with a fine 65th minute strike.
“Potter said: ‘He linked the game well. It was his first game in the Premier League but he did what we asked him to do. He got into the box for two goals, one of which was disallowed, and he will probably be disappointed not to have scored another’.”
Praise for Trossard was universal. Matt Bullin on the BBC website wrote that “the Belgian took his chance with both hands. Whether it was carrying the ball at pace or threading balls through for Glenn Murray, the 24-year-old was a constant threat for the Seagulls.
“And it only took him 28 minutes to find the net – although his sweetly-timed finish was rightly ruled out for offside.
“But neither VAR nor [Lukasz] Fabianski was able to deny the Belgian a debut goal as he [sic] pinched the ball from a dallying Issa Diop to fire home from the edge of the box just after the hour.
“Trossard’s arrival was perhaps forgotten after [Neal] Maupay’s £20m signing from Brentford but the Belgian’s 22 goals and 11 assists from 47 outings for Genk last term illustrate that he is certainly a dangerous attacking threat.”
Tom Kershaw on The Independent website approached the new-look Albion strikeforce somewhat obliquely. He wrote: “At 35 years old, there is little in the way of surprise, flair or flicks to come from Glenn Murray and yet the veteran striker remains as great a nuisance as anyone in the Premier League. A combination of old-fashioned industry and poacher’s nous, his value isn’t just based on the goalscoring threat he can bring, but his ability to distract and drag defenders and create space for attackers playing off him.
“Today it was Brighton’s new signing, Leandro Trossard, who took full advantage on his first start since joining from Genk. A fast and whirring presence to counter Murray, he thought he’d put Brighton ahead in the first half with a fine volley only [for it] to be subsequently ruled out by VAR. But in the second, the pair combined to haul their side back into the game, Murray stealing the ball off Issa Diop after the centre-back’s poor touch before Trossard jinked inside and fizzed a shot past Fabianski and into the far corner. They couldn’t find a winner on this occasion, but add £20m signing Neal Maupay into that mix and Graham Potter has a strikeforce that many lower-table sides will envy.”
Two points, though, had been lost. As John Aizlewood – one of this column’s favourite match reporters – wrote in the first edition of the Sunday Times, “fortune doesn’t always favour the brave. First, Brighton & Hove Albion dominated against West Ham United, only to find themselves behind. They equalised and then, desperately seeking three points where others may have been satisfied with one, new head coach Graham Potter introduced two strikers, as he had while ahead at Watford last week. In the end, his men fell just short, but he laid down a marker for a new approach: win or bust, even if it sometimes means a draw.
“Just after the hour, West Ham scored and Brighton conceded their first goal of the season, when Maneul Lanzini’s expertly threaded through ball unleashed Javier Hernandez and the little Mexican ran on and rolled his first away goal of 2019 past Ryan.
“Brighton did not panic and they were level when the arch-nuisance Glenn Murray was too muscular for the rather more beefy Issa Diop on the edge of the penalty area and Trossard walloped home the loose ball. Now Potter showed his true inclinations, introducing Neal Maupay and Florin Andone to pile the pressure on a tiring defence and take three points. Davy Propper went close, Maupay missed horribly, but none came as close as West Ham’s Robert Snodgrass when he ended a lightning break with a fierce drive which brought the best out of Ryan and both teams ended with what they had begun.”
But to end on a positive note, Albion have one more point than they did after the first two matches of last season, and four more than the season before that. And as Tom Prentki wrote in the Sunday Telegraph: “You don’t need an MA in Leadership and Emotional Intelligence to sense the excitement around Brighton and Hove Albion these days.
“Graham Potter had that qualification and, though his side may not have won this game, the way the dominated it and the style that is emerging under their intriguing new coach ensured that the home support did not depart too disappointed.”