Brighton 1 Sheff Utd 1: Blades come from behind to grab vital point to dent ten-man Seagulls’ Euro dreams
ADAM WEBSTER’S own goal salvaged Sheffield United a precious point in the relegation dog-fight.
The Brighton centre-back turned in an inch-perfect Jayden Bogle cross 74 minutes in after five minutes of chaos for the hosts.
The equaliser arrived after Mahmoud Dahoud was shown a straight red for a nasty tackle on the back of Ben Osborn’s leg.
Brighton has been bossing it up until then after Simon Adringa hit the opener for his third goal across all competitions this season.
The point has taken Paul Heckingbottom’s scrappers off the bottom of the table.
The Blades flashed an early warning shot as Gustavo Hamer pounced on a sloppy clearance from Jan Paul van Hecke before heading just wide.
But it was all Brighton from there.
On-loan Barcelona star Ansu Fati then burst towards goal, shimmying beyond two defenders before unleashing a fierce low drive into the psalm of Wes Foderingham.
This was all before Simon Adringa found the opener just five minutes virtually all on his own, bamboozling the Blades’ defence before playing a one-two with Buonanotte to slot home.
Cue mayhem not only from the fans but boss De Zerbi who launched himself at the home supporters to give it large.
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Brighton were in the driving seat and Argentine midfielder Buonanotte rifled a shot agonisingly close to the post.
Billy Gilmour then forced Foderingham into a cracking save after hitting a sweet, dipping strike from 30-yards out.
Brighton emerged from the break with the same vigour, and Joao Pedro entered the fray for Buonanotte before curling a shot just over the bar.
Karou Mitoma also came on for Adam Lallana and weaved beyond the Blades’ defence to crack a shot at Fogeringham before Mahmoud Dahoud stung the palms of Foderingham.
Sheffield United were starting to get a foot in the game but chaos erupted on 69 minutes.
Dahoud was shown a straight red for a nasty stamp on the back of Ben Osborn’s leg and referee John Brookes showed no hesitation in sending the midfielder packing.
Paul Heckingbottom smelt blood and rallied his troops with a rousing touchline speech before they went onto equalise 74 minutes in.
Jayden Bogle blasted a low ball across the box and Adam Webster slid it into his own net.
Livid De Zerbi was then shown a yellow card for a tongue-lashing aimed at fourth-official Andrew Madley.
The drama continued and there was a VAR check for a penalty as Luke Thomas clattered into Adringra but it was clearly outside the box on 91 minutes
Seagulls skipper Pascal Gross stood over it, but Bogle produced a superb block to stop Mitoma making a crucial touch.