And we’ll leave you with our report from the Amex on another great day for Brighton and another bleak one for Leicester. Thanks for reading!
Eek.
Updated
Well well well. If Brendan Rodgers was under pressure before this game he’s buried under a mountain of it now. But the real story here is Brighton, who today went from being quietly very good to being loudly very good. Their fantastic start to the season puts them fourth entirely on merit: a point behind City and Spurs with the same number of games played. Graham Potter should be be hot property (much like Rodgers was 12 months ago!).
Full time: Brighton 5-2 Leicester
Peep peep! Brighton make it 13 points from six games by hammering beleaguered Leicester. The home side recovered from the shock of conceding after 51 seconds to dominate a very open game, with Alexis Mac Allister scoring twice and having a screamer ruled out by VAR.
Leicester stay bottom, having lost five games in a row. But this is all about Brighton, who pound for pound might be the best team in the Premier League. They are certainly one of the most likeable.
That was a delightful goal, a free-kick from 25 yards that gave Ward no chance. Mac Allister got it up and down perfectly, with enough curl to take it away from the flying Ward. Beautiful.
Updated
GOAL! Brighton 5-2 Leicester (Mac Allister 90+7)
Alexis Mac Allister scores his second beauty of the day – but this one counts.
Updated
90+5 min “VAR can obviously do one in its current incarnation,” says Dave Skinner. “The only way I see it having any value is giving VAR a short time limit, say 20 seconds, to overturn the decision using full speed replays. No drawing ridiculous lines on a freeze frame. No rocking back and forth in slowmo. If it looks like a howler in full speed replay then VAR intervenes, otherwise it stays in its hole and the on-field decision stands.”
In theory I like that idea but just imagine the explosions of entitlement.
90+4 min “I feel VAR is very much a case of be careful what you wish for,” says Niall Mullen. “Instead of giving referees pelters done the years they should have been supported and resourced properly. I always think of this piece by the late great Steven Wells.”
90+3 min: Double substitution for Brighton The new signing Billy Gilmour comes on for his Brighton debut along with another Chelsea alumnus, Tariq Lamptey. Moises Caicedeo and Solly March go off.
90+1 min Caicedo’s volley from the edge of the area is blocked by a Leicester defender.
90 min Seven added minutes, mainly because of that VAR delay.
89 min A change for Brighton: Pervis Estupinan replaces the marvellous Leandro Trossard, who was about to be substituted when he scored Brighton’s third goal.
Updated
88 min March shoots straight at Ward from 15 yards. Brighton should have scored six or seven.
87 min Mac Allister, who has had a terrific game, swerves away from a Leicester player on the edge of the D but then shoots straight at Ward.
87 min Undav tees up Welbeck, whose mishit shot bobbles through to Ward. That looked a decent chance.
86 min Justin’s cross is swept straight at Sanchez by Daka, 15 yards out. A decent first-time effort.
84 min: Brighton substitution Deniz Undav replaces Mwepu, who was excellent and made the second goal for Caicedo.
83 min Gross almost scores from a corner, with Ward backpedalling to tip it over the bar. I think Gross meant that.
81 min “Graham Potter is a genius, discuss?” says Alan Webb. “That’s no fun. Of course he is. Much more entertaining to discuss ‘Rodgers is a fraud, and is he going to Villa?’”
80 min A corner is spilled by Ward, who is relieved to grab it at the second attempt. He’s had a mixed game – he’s conceded four and looked very nervous at times, but he’s also made three or four pretty good saves.
80 min “Match of the Day should have a new competition,” says Phil Malyan. “Disallowed Goal of the Month.”
You will not see a better strike this season...! 🔥 What. A. Hit.
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 4, 2022
But it's another contentious VAR decision this weekend 😫 pic.twitter.com/Idf0Fzj0wQ
Updated
78 min Trossard plays a nice square pass to Gross, 25 yards out. He gets the ball out of his feet and whips a shot back across goal that is pushed away to his right by the flying Ward. Good save.
78 min Graham Potter is a genius, discuss.
Updated
77 min Leicester look beaten now. Their spirit has been pretty good today – there’s no sign that Rodgers has lost the dressing-room – but Brighton’s superior confidence has been decisive.
74 min “I’ve struggled with this since the start - why not follow the tennis/cricket model in football, and allow the captains a number of reviews per game?” says Tom Crane. “As has been said, nobody appealed for that disallowed Brighton goal, and I don’t recall seeing any Chelsea players appealing about Cornet’s yesterday either...”
I’m not sure that would work in a game that doesn’t stop and start as often as tennis and cricket. That said, anything is worth a try.
72 min: Triple change for Leicester Daniel Amartey, Jamie Vardy and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall replace Tielemans (who was superb), Iheanacho and Soumare.
Mac Allister put the penalty straight down the middle, with Ward diving to his right. That should be enough for Brighton, who have played some outstanding attacking football today.
GOAL! Brighton 4-2 Leicester (Mac Allister 71 pen)
Alexis Mac Allister is on the scoresheet now.
Updated
The penalty stands. I think it was a foul. Even if it wasn’t, it certainly wasn’t a clear and obvious error.
VAR check! Oh good lord.
PENALTY TO BRIGHTON!
70 min Trossard beats Ndidi with a glorious bit of skill near the byline. Ndidi shoves him over and the referee gives a penalty.
Updated
68 min: Good save from Ward! Pascal Gross is rampant at the moment. He protects the ball on the edge of the area, despite being surrounded, and eventually finds March to his left. March has a touch and splats a rising shot that is pushed round the near post by Ward.
66 min Tielemans’ cross from the right bounces up awkwardly at Daka, who flicks it wide of the near post.
Mac Allister picked up a loose ball 30 yards from goal and gave it to Gross. He cleverly allowed the ball to run across his body to make the angle for a flicked pass to Trossard in the area. Trossard held his nerve to arc the ball into the far corner. A lovely finish, and VAR can find nothing wrong with it. The goal stands.
Updated
GOAL? Brighton 3-2 Leicester (Trossard 64)
If it stands, this is another really good goal from Brighton.
63 min “I don’t think VAR is the issue; it’s the jobsworth mentality of English officials,” says Richard Parkinson. “You don’t tend to see anything like this number of dodgy calls in Serie A or Ligue 1.”
There’s probably something in that. From memory it worked surprisingly well at the World Cup and Euro 2021.
62 min Nor is Gary.
I say this as a @LCFC fan: these VAR decisions are sucking the life and joy out of the game.
— Gary Lineker 💙💛 (@GaryLineker) September 4, 2022
62 min Ian’s not a fan.
Bin it!! 🚮 #VAR
— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) September 4, 2022
61 min: Good save from Ward! Lovely play from Brighton. After a long passing move, Trossard plays a terrific reverse pass to find Mwepu on the left side of the area. He whips a shot from a very tight angle that is well blocked by Ward.
60 min “A couple of unsolicited thoughts on VAR, Rob,” says Ewan Benson. “If we must persist with VAR, then they should be given 30 seconds max to make the decision. If they can’t, then the decision on the pitch should stand. If there needs to be a benefit of the doubt, the striker (or goalscorer) should be the one who receives it.”
They didn’t trial it properly. They barely trialled it at all. All the problems stem for that.
60 min Nothing’s happening on the field by the way. It’s almost as if VAR has temporarily sucked all the joy and vitality from a hitherto superb game.
59 min Nor is Danny.
Well done VAR again, you blood-sucking joy-vacuum. Another great goal wiped off WITH NOT ONE LEICESTER PLAYER APPEALING. VAR now totally in charge of the English game. No explanation, no accountability, just robotic searches for any reason to ruin the game as a spectacle. #VARout
— Danny Kelly (@dannykellywords) September 4, 2022
58 min Jeff isn’t a fan.
Well done VAR . One of the great goals ruled out for something nobody even appealed for. It’s a total shambles as it has been from its inception
— Jeff Stelling (@JeffStelling) September 4, 2022
57 min Gross has a long-range shot blocked by Evans. Nothing much has happened since the disallowed goal.
55 min “For years it’s been assumed that whenever a managerial job comes up at one of the traditional top six clubs that no English manager would be seriously considered,” says David Wall. “Given how well Potter is doing at Brighton, and Howe at Newcastle, might that have changed? If it’s true that Klopp has seven-year limit, or if Chelsea lose patience with Tuchel, might either consider Potter?”
Personally I doubt it. I think the culture is too entrenched now. I suppose it’ll change eventually, everything does, but I don’t think we’re there yet.
52 min So. The reason it was disallowed is that Mwepu, in an offside position, fresh-aired an attempted overhead kick. Justin then headed the ball away to Mac Allister, whose heatseeker flew into the top corner.
Updated
NO GOAL! Brighton 2-2 Leicester
Well done everyone. Alexis Mac Allister has just scored one of the great disallowed goals.
The referee is going to the monitor I have no idea what’s happening. I think the referee has been asked to decide whether Mwepu and/or Webster were interfering with play. I suspect the goal will be disallowed.
Updated
Mwepu looked in an offside position from the free-kick, and missed with an overhead kick just before Justin headed it away. I don’t think Mwepu touched the ball, though, so does that mean he wasn’t interfering with play? I have no idea any more.
Updated
VAR check for offside Oh dear lord.
Gross’s free-kick from the left was headed away by Justin towards Mac Allister, 25 yards out. He watched the bounce and thrashed a spectacular half-volley that whistled across Ward and right into the top corner.
Updated
GOAL! Brighton 3-2 Leicester (Mac Allister 47)
What a strike from Alexis Mac Allister!
Updated
46 min Peep peep! Brighton begin the second half. Timothy Castagne has replaced Harvey Barnes for Leicester, which might mean a switch to 3-5-2.
Watch Patson Daka’s equaliser
Tielemans ➡️ Daka 🤤🤤
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 4, 2022
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 pass, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 finish. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/VnU5DhDEHt
Half-time reading
Half time: Brighton 2-2 Leicester
Peep peep! A richly entertaining half comes to an end. Leicester took the lead after 51 seconds, were battered for half an hour - during which time they went 2-1 down - and then equalised against the run of play. See you in 10 minutes for the second half.
Updated
45+2 min After a bit of pinball in the Leicester area, Gross guides a clever header back to Caicedo in the D. He belts the bouncing ball high and wide.
Updated
45 min Three minutes of added fun.
45 min Trossard’s floated cross is headed wide by March, arriving late at the far post. In fact, replays show it came off his shoulder as he jumped into a crowd of players.
42 min: Chance for Leicester! Maddison’s pass towards Justin is intercepted by Trossard but the ball bounces nicely for Barnes just inside the area. He hammers a first-time shot that is beaten away by Sanchez. It was well struck but too close ot the keeper.
Updated
41 min “There’s something pleasingly asymmetrical about the way Potter has set Brighton up,” says Kári Tulinius. “The lines are never predictable, it reminds me a bit of the old Italian zona mista. France at the 2018 World Cup had some of that legacy, though they were more defensive.”
40 min The second corner is half cleared to Mwepu, who shoots well wide from distance.
39 min Gross’s inswinging corner is flapped behind for another by Ward, who almost ran past the ball. He looks pretty nervous.
37 min A Brighton corner finds its way through to Dunk, whose shot from the edge of the area is blocked by one of his own team-mates.
34 min “Afternoon Rob,” says Stephen Carr. “In response to your observation about Brighton’s bonkers formation, I reckon Brendon is absolutely fuming that he’s been ‘Out-Rodgersed’ by Graham Potter (a man who looks like he runs a Paul Weller fan club).”
Brendan Rodgers brought in two centre-forwards to replace Jamie Vardy, and they have both scored. Tielemans lofted a superb long pass that was missed by the stretching Dunk, which allowed Daka to run through on goal. He took a couple of touches and finished emphatically past the outrushing Sanchez.
GOAL! Brighton 2-2 Leicester (Daka 33)
Leicester equalise out of nothing!
Updated
31 min Ward makes a good save with his legs to deny Gross, though it wouldn’t have counted as he was offside.
29 min: Just over from Welbeck! Leicester are all over the place. Ward takes too long over a backpass from Ndidi and is robbed by Welbeck. The touch takes Welbeck very wide on the left, but he retrieves the ball and floats a chip over Ward and onto the roof of the net. Ward and Ndidi have a brief slanging match, with Ward snarling “eff off” at the precise moment the camera homes in on him.
Updated
28 min March cuts inside from the left before shooting high and wide from 25 yards. Games chance quickly, we know that, but at the moment Brighton are well on top. Leicester look mentally weary.
27 min The Brighton system is fascinating – as far as I can tell*, they are essentially playing with a midfield diamond and wing-backs. But Gross in particular is very flexible; at times he’s almost playing as a second right wing-back.
26 min “Strange goalkeeping by Ward on the second goal,” says Rob Jacques. “At the moment Caceido struck his shot, the goalkeeper turned his head away and seemed to be guarding an area about a foot outside his near post...”
Oh yes, I see what you mean. Not sure he’d have saved it anyway, mind you.
🇪🇨 𝐄𝐂𝐔𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐂𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐘! 🇪🇨
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 4, 2022
It is raining goals at the Amex! Moisés Caicedo has turned this game on its head. We've only played 15 minutes... 😮 pic.twitter.com/3ndZ78CBWr
25 min “Poor Fantasy Football decisions, you say?” wails Matt Dony. “I took Bailey out, assuming City would give Villa a good going over. Left Coutinho in on the off chance, though. Brilliant. Mind you, I had Leicester finishing in 7th in my pre-season predictions, so what do I know?”
24 min Leicester look like they are suffering from a serious case of deja vu. It’s been all Brighton since they equalised.
23 min Caicedo and Evans are fine, and play resumes.
21 min Welbeck’s shot on the turn is crucially blocked by Ndidi, and then there’s a clash of heads between Caicedo and Evans. Both are down and receiving treatment.
20 min Mac Allister’s free-kick hits the wall.
18 min Maddison fouls Welbeck 25 yards from goal. Leicester have looked rattled since the equaliser.
16 min Here’s that Brighton equaliser from Luke Thomas.
𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐓 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊! 🔵⚪
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 4, 2022
Solly March heads it back across goal and it ends up in the Leicester net. Game On. 🚨 pic.twitter.com/G8smnFJuVJ
The goal stemmed from a mistake by Maddison, whose poor pass was intercepted by Mwepu on the halfway line. He ran away from Maddison and kept going all the way to the edge of the D as the Leicester defence backpedalled. Then he flicked the ball to his right to find Caicedo, who took a touch and rammed the ball past Ward.
Updated
GOAL! Brighton 2-1 Leicester (Caicedo 15)
One-nil down, 2-1 up!
Updated
14 min March beats Thomas neatly and drives a very deep cross that is headed into the ground by Welbeck and collected by the keeper Ward.
13 min Maddison produdes a lovely bit of skill to beat Mac Allister, who brings him down and is booked. Actually, looking at the replay, Maddison might have engineered the contact.
12 min I’ve got Trossard in my team an’ all.
Goal - Own goal (Thomas)
— Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) September 4, 2022
Assist - MARCH
Brighton 1-1 Leicester (10 mins)#FPL #BHALEI
A long cross from the right found Trossard in space on the left side of the area. He teased a lovely ball back towards the far post, where March’s close-range header hit Thomas and bounced past Ward. I think that will go down as an own goal as March’s header didn’t appear to be on target.
Updated
GOAL! Brighton 1-1 Leicester (Thomas og 10)
I think this is an own goal.
Updated
10 min Here’s the opening goal from Iheanacho.
⚡ 𝐋𝐄𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐘! ⚡
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 4, 2022
Kelechi Iheanacho fires Leicester ahead inside the first minute! 🦊 pic.twitter.com/G9g6yRomzr
9 min Nothing comes of the corner. Not a thing.
Updated
8 min Iheanacho cuts inside from the right, dummies to shoot a couple of times and then does hit a low shot that deflects behind for a corner. Leicester look bright and breezy in attack.
4 min The free-kick is laid off to March, whose low shot hits a team-mate, Welbeck I think, and goes well wide.
3 min A dodgy pass from Ward is nicked by March, who is tripped this far outside the area by Thomas. He’s booked.
Updated
2 min Well that’s buggered a few fantasy teams. I was just about to say that Brighton’s formation looks like a 3-1-4-1-1, Leicester’s closer to 4-4-2.
Brighton (3-1-4-1-1) Sanchez; Veltman, Dunk, Webster; Mac Allister; March, Gross, Caicedo, Trossard; Mwepu; Welbeck.
Leicester (4-4-2) Ward; Justin, Ndidi, Evans, Thomas; Maddison, Sumare, Tielemans, Barnes; Iheanacho, Daka.
Updated
Tielemans shouldered March off the ball and found Barnes, who helped the ball onto Daka on the left side of the area. He angled a precise cutback towards Iheanacho, who swept the ball into the empty net from eight yards.
Updated
GOAL! Brighton 0-1 Leicester (Iheanacho 1)
Leicester take the lead after 51 seconds!
Updated
1 min Peep peep! Leicester, in their black change strip, get the match underway.
Leicester’s new signing, Wout Faes, isn’t involved today – apparently he has visa issues.
“Absolutely buzzing to see Billy Gilmour on the bench for today’s game and hopefully he’ll get his first minutes for the club,” says Craig Hogg. “The kid has been left behind with Chelsea and Norwich, but has plenty to bring to Brighton, and I reckon he will impress in time!”
I think it’s a superb signing, for him and the club. If I was a dainty, ball-playing No6, I’d want to work for Graham Potter, although no doubt Potter would say it’s working with rather than for. Actually, I’d quite like to work for/with him anyway. Anyone know if he does a bit of editing on the side?
“I see there’s another rookie ref today,” says Rob Hisnay. “Let’s hope it goes better than yesterday.”
In other news, VAR: Chris Kavanagh. Assistant VAR: Mark Scholes.
Updated
The teams in (possible) formation
Brighton (goodness knows, maybe 3-3-3-1) Sanchez; Veltman, Dunk, Webster; Mwepu, Mac Allister, Caicedo; March, Gross, Trossard; Welbeck.
Substitutes: Steele, Lamptey, Colwill, Alzate, Undav, Mitoma, Gilmour, Van Hecke
Leicester (possible 4-1-3-2) Ward; Justin, Ndidi, Evans, Thomas; Soumare; Maddison, Tielemans, Barnes; Iheanacho, Daka.
Substitutes: Iversen, Amartey, Castagne, Mendy, Praet, Dewsbury-Hall, Albrighton, Perez, Vardy.
Referee Tony Harrington.
Updated
Team news: Vardy dropped
The new signing Billy Gilmour starts on the bench for Brighton, who make one change from the midweek defeat at Fulham. Danny Welbeck returns in place of Pervis Estupinan.
TEAM NEWS! 🚨 Here's how we line up against @LCFC today. 📝
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) September 4, 2022
📲 https://t.co/S3j1TIedJv // #BHAFC 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/THRrhzL7fA
Brendan Rodgers has left out Jamie Vardy, who is yet to score this season, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, with Patson Daka and Kelechi Iheanacho coming in.
The City XI at AMEX Stadium 🏟️#BHALEI pic.twitter.com/EMpLwvHpSX
— Leicester City (@LCFC) September 4, 2022
Updated
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Brighton v Leicester at the Amex Stadium. Last season these teams were mid-table equals, separated by a point in the final league table. Four months later, this game is fourth versus twentieth. While Brighton have had a terrific start to the season, taking 10 points from five games, Leicester are a shadow of the side who infiltrated the top six so impressively from 2019-21.
There are mitigating circumstances – too many injuries, not enough fresh blood – but the upshot is that Brendan Rodgers is now odds-on favourite in the Premier League sack race. Another defeat today could finish him off. Be careful what you wish for, Brighton fans: if Rodgers does go, Leicester will be looking for a classy, overachieving coach whose teams play stylish football.
Kick off 2pm
Billy’s in the building! 👋 @BillyGilmourrr 🏴 pic.twitter.com/jmoTl7uDzf
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) September 4, 2022
