Electric Enciso puts Brighton into the Europa League

Julio Enciso’s sensational strike gave Brighton & Hove Albion a well-earned point at home to champions Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola made several changes to the team that won against Chelsea in the last game with Erling Haaland returning to the fold. The Norwegian should have put the visitors ahead in the sixth minute when Phil Foden did well to find space and put in a cross but the striker’s header went just over the bar.

That early warning seemed to spark Brighton into life with Danny Welbeck’s effort from a free-kick denied by the crossbar.

But City were able to find space behind the Seagulls’ back line. Jason Steele did well to stand tall against Haaland and stop the striker when he was through on goal but a similar scenario happened just a few minutes later.

This time, Haaland elected to lay the ball off to Phil Foden who was able to fire an effort into the goalkeeper-less net with the Brighton defenders on the line not able to keep his strike out.

Kaoru Mitoma thought he equalised for Brighton just after the half-hour mark. The winger bundled the ball into the net from a set-piece but the goal was ruled out when Mitoma accidentally touched the ball with his hand while essentially falling over onto it.

There was no reason to rule out Julio Enciso’s brilliant goal though. The teenager received the ball some 30 yards away from goal, had space to drive in, and then put in an unstoppable curling effort into the top right corner.

Brighton almost took a lead into the break when Mitoma played Danny Welbeck through with the d striker finishing well past Stefan Ortega. However, the former Manchester United striker had just strayed offside.

The second half lacked some of the zest from the first 45 minutes, especially when Julio Enciso was replaced by Alexis Mac Allister in the 52nd minute – it could well be the World Cup winner’s final appearance at the Amex Stadium as a Brighton player.

Erling Haaland thought he may have bagged a winning goal in the 79th minute when he headed in a cross from Cole Palmer. However, the goal was ruled out by VAR for a fairly blatant shirt pull by Haaland on Levi Colwill to find space in the box.

While the game fizzled out after a brilliantly entertaining first half, Roberto De Zerbi won’t mind too much with his team earning their spot in the Europa League next season.

Man of the Match: We think if Julio Enciso hadn't gone off the pitch early into the second half we would have had a more entertaining game – the youngster was the highlight of the first half. His goal alone deserves the award.

xG: Brighton & Hove Albion (2.70) 1-1 (1.87) ManchesterCity

More to follow...

BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION ARE EUROPA LEAGUE! 💫 #BHAFC pic.twitter.com/cBtvsPwivQ

— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) May 24, 2023