A season opener with rustiness abounding was heading Brighton’s way. Then came echoes of last season, when 22 points were conceded from winning positions. Once Matt O’Riley had slotted a penalty after Sander Berge’s ill-judged challenge, Fulham had to wait for the 95th minute for a genuine chance. Volleyed wide by an aghast Kenny Tete it would not be the last, Rodrigo Muniz smashing in a Harry Wilson corner to equalise.
The ball had been allowed to travel to the second-half sub on the back post. Muniz, one of many strikers linked with Newcastle, and this week linked with Atalanta and Champions League football, chested down to crash home. The delighted away fans implored the Brazilian to stay. “He’s very strong,” said Marco Silva, the Fulham manager. “Rodrigo created something with the fans that is not easy to do.”
For transfer devotees, the other major news had been Carlos Baleba starting in Brighton’s midfield; the expectation is he stays, give or take a steeple-high offer Tony Bloom cannot refuse. Within an aggressive midfield battle, Baleba’s quality was often a cut above. His defensive work was missed once subbed off in the second half.
“Good against the ball, he needs to be better in possession,” was Fabian Hürzeler’s verdict. “We are very pleased he is a Brighton player, we want to go with him to the next step, he can be very important for us this season.”
While the Premier League’s upper class lavish huge sums, there was just one new signing in either of these two members of the squeezed middle’s starting teams. Maxim De Cuyper, the left-back signed via Brighton’s regular Belgian trade route, completed the 90. “Very mature,” said Hürzeler of the new man.
For Fulham where only the reserve goalkeeper, Benjamin Lecomte, was a new face, novelty was offered by Josh King, 18, showing high promise. “A very good performance,” said Silva. “He’s a top talent player, I didn’t have any reservations on picking him.”
The teenager showed off impressive ball-carrying chops while both teams were otherwise rushed in attempting to create opportunities. The best chance of the first half came when O’Riley whipped the ball for Kaoru Mitoma to head over, the type of chance a centre-forward like Danny Welbeck, on the bench, might gobble up. Georgino Rutter was playing the role vacated by João Pedro’s sale, with O’Riley assuming penalty duties.
On the sidelines, Silva kept his usual morose vigil while Hürzeler anxiously split his time between bench and technical area. Hürzeler is 32 but is a young man in a hurry, his summer pursuits including Spanish lessons. “For sure it feels painful,” he said, happy enough with his team’s performance until those fateful final seconds.
“It’s really important to take the positives away. We played well and defended good. We should score the second goal and I think the game would be over. That’s football.”
Silva is in the final year of his Fulham contract with barely concealed irritation at the “passive”, to use his word, lack of arrivals, but was happy enough with the team he fights on with. “I think it’s a fair result,” he said. “The only difference before we came back again was the penalty.”
Brighton broke the deadlock after Rutter was allowed far too much space to surge into the box; Berge was unduly clumsy. O’Riley swept low and left, Bernd Leno offered no answer to a player linked with Juventus.
As Brighton increasingly looked to the counter, Silva was in the process of throwing on three changes, including Muniz, when Yankuba Minteh blazed over a chance, created by Mitoma’s speed, that might have clinched victory.
That hastened Brighton’s changes, Baleba off for Diego Gómez. The Paraguayan showed considerable attacking prowess while struggling to meet the defensive detail. James Milner, who hits 40 in January, also arrived, and was unable to stem the Fulham flow. Silva threw on Emile Smith Rowe for King, departing to an ovation. It was Smith Rowe who forced the corner from which his team equalised.
As 90 minutes arrived, another sub, Brajan Gruda, blew the latest decent Brighton chance, caught in two minds, a familiar moment they would come to regret.
