Albion completed an incredible comeback against Manchester City at the Amex today in dramatic fashion.
Brajan Gruda will steal the headlines, and rightly so, but what happened before that? Did we deserve it?
Subs were key!
Substitutions have been a huge question mark over Fabian Hürzeler, especially recently, and coincidentally, these won the game today. It doesn’t feel long ago that Albion lost a 1-0 lead to Fulham courtesy of controversial substitutions, and arguably, Everton in a similar manner. The question over Brajan Gruda’s minutes have been truly answered by the little German today.
It wasn’t just the subs, though. Yankuba Minteh was electric both in attack and defence. Covering both ends of the pitch in the first half when the momentum wasn’t with Albion. The first wasn’t good, to be honest. Whilst it felt like Manchester City had the officials on their side, the overall game’s balance was certainly in the Cityzens’ favour. Erling Haaland had multiple chances to put them further ahead, and they could well have been in a commanding position at half-time. However, he didn’t.
City were in total control, Rodri and Marmoush were causing problems. A mixture of touches of class and time spent on the floor was hurting Albion; and the gulf in quality was as clear as the Sussex sunshine this afternoon.
Albion changed their fortunes after around 60 minutes. Let’s be honest, when the penalty was given for handball, the instant “who’s going to take this?!” filled the conversations around me in the West Upper. James Milner had his name written in the stars after proudly taking the number 20 in tribute of the late Diogo Jota, who was a good friend of Milner’s.
Milner stepped up and coolly slotted into the bottom left corner against his former side. Ice in the veins, and Milner at 39-years-old has his first goal in blue and white stripes.
From this point onwards, the momentum flipped completely. Energy, passion and determination from those who were freshly off the bench. Introductions of Georginio and Brajan Gruda gave Minteh some backup, and they were simply too hot to handle for the shaky Man City defence.
Driving runs and taking the game towards City was proof that energy and pace is the key attributes that Hürzeler should look to exploit more often. City didn’t like the pressure. The high press caused problems, and once the scoreline read 1-1, the overcommitment showed up some big gaps throughout midfield and defence.
Kaoru Mitoma had a quiet first half, but with the right support, he was dangerous again. Runs from the aforementioned showed up some big gaps, and a threaded pass into the lone Gruda towards the 90th minute left one more chance to be had. A good touch, and Gruda was in. Flashbacks to Oxford United during the week would trigger memories of the time where he rounded the goalkeeper before taking too long, and eventually being challenged off the ball. Mind you, Gruda was unstoppable that night too, but a similar action pattern has started to form.
When he was around James Trafford, who had a good game in goal, the composed finish to slot the ball into the empty City net sent the Amex into pandemonium. I shouted “DON’T SELL HIM!” alongside my Dad, and oh, how I meant it.
The celebrations were ones for the memories. Just like the Matt O’Riley moment last season, we have another Amex classic.
Off the pitch?
This young team has the potential to be at the very top level of football. There’s always a chance to break the boundary, and this squad could do that. The expectations are high, and rightly so. They may well be young, but if they are ready, the proof will always be in the performances.
Missing Stefanos Tzimas showed up some issues up front. Danny Welbeck struggled to influence the game, and there is a good opportunity to make a difference after the international break. His driving runs forward and clinical finishes to register two goals and an assist after 20 minutes on debut isn’t just banging on the door, it’s knocking it down.
Albion are off and running, and based on the second-half performance, they certainly deserved it. Fabian Hürzeler, fantastic substitutions, you’ve given us a brilliant Sunday evening with a beer watching the late kick-offs.
With deadline day around the corner, Albion should be eager to retain some key talents. Not many more players will be keen for stability on their future like Carlos Baleba. The noise is noticeably effecting his performances on the pitch, and we haven’t even seen his usual energy at full time either! A couple more incomings wouldn’t go amiss, but please, no more instability!
