Julio Enciso and Pervis Estupinan are not the only South Americans to have scored for the Albion against Arsenal. Step forward Leo Ulloa, who netted on his Seagulls debut against the Gunners, in an FA Cup tie, back in 2013…
There are 62 minutes on the clock, Albion are 2-1 down against the Gunners and a sold-out Amex is willing the side on for the equaliser.
Ashley Barnes swings in a teasing low cross from the right, the Arsenal backline fail to react, and Ulloa stoops low. An Albion hero is born.
“To score on my debut against Arsenal was just a dream,” recalled the striker, who was signed from Spanish side Almeria weeks earlier. “I was quite nervous before the game because I wanted to make a big impression, and of course we were playing a big, famous team with some fantastic players.
“The size of the crowd and the noise in the Amex Stadium that day just blew me away. We never even got that at many clubs when I played in La Liga.
“I know this was a good club, but I thought it was a small club – and I soon realised that I was wrong! It was a fantastic feeling playing in front of such passionate fans in such a great stadium. It was obviously disappointing to lose, but I was happy that I’d made a good start.”
Just six minutes before his goal, Olivier Giroud had netted his second, yet the Seagulls refused to lay down. On the contrary, they pressed for the equaliser and it arrived when Leo nipped in ahead of Per Mertesacker.
“I remember looking up, seeing Ash about to put the ball in, and it was a case of keeping my eye on the ball and using my determination to get ahead of my marker,” he recalled. “I got a good connection and then the celebrations started. It was crazy, celebrating with my team-mates and the fans. It was important to score, not just because it was my debut, but because it was against a top team – you want to prove you can do it against the top sides.”
Tiredness got the better of Leo and he was replaced by Craig Mackail-Smith with 73 minutes on the clock.
“I didn’t want to come off but this was my first game for a long time. As we got near the end, I was thinking of the replay in London, and how nice that would be to play at the Emirates Stadium, but then Theo Walcott scored and that was the game finished for us.
“It was disappointment that we felt at first in the changing room, but then we had a good feeling because the team had played so well. It helped to lift the side in the second half of the season and we got to the play-offs.”
For Leo, it was the first of ten goals he would score for the Seagulls that campaign, which included a hat-trick against Huddersfield and a brace in a 3-0 home win against rivals Crystal Palace. Yet it was that first goal that remains so vivid in his memory to this day.
“You never forget your first goal for any club you play for,” he revealed. “For it to come for Brighton against Arsenal, in such a high-profile game, makes it even better for me.
“I looked around at the opposition: Podolski, Giroud, Rosicky, Ramsey, and I had made my own mark against them. It gave me real confidence, real belief, that I could perform against the top teams. From that moment on, I never looked back.”