Dull defeat by the seaside for Fulham

Brighton 2-1 Fulham

When I mooted that last Saturday's Brighton-Fulham might be a rehearsal for this season's FA Cup Final I was not anticipating a contest that involved a dull first half briefly lit up by a Fulham goal and the Seagulls' prompt equaliser followed eventually by extra time and penalties.

That is more or less what we got except that it was added, not extra, time and just one penalty.

Neither club has ever won the Cup. Fulham struggled in the 1975 Final but eight years later Brighton came within an ace of defeating Manchester United (Ray Wilkins and all). That is when the radio commentator uttered that domed prophecy 'And Smith must score'. The Brighton goal never happened and United won the replay (no penalty shoot-out in those days).

With Adama Traore injured and Sasa Lukic suspended, Marco Silva needed to change his line-up and also chose to start with Raul Jimenez rather than Rodrigo Muniz. For some reason his players looked lethargic, and it was fortunate that the home side were little better.

There was mild excitement for spectators when Yankuba Minteh tested Bernd Leno and Emile Smith Rowe had a rather soft shot diverted for a corner.

Once again, a mediocre match generated a marvellous goal. Alex Iwobi surging down the right delivered a precise pass to Jimenez, who controlled, turned and shot despite the proximity of Jan-Paul van Hecke and Jack Hinshelwood. Raul's celebratory somersault looked painful but he emerged unharmed.

The lead only lasted six minutes. With half-time looming van Hecke got his revenge, heading Yasin Ayari's freekick past Leno. Five or six Fulham players were in position to intercept but no-one moved.

The Seagulls had never beaten Fulham in the Premier League, but the second half saw the visitors fighting to save a point with Iwobi providing the sole nuisance upfront. He had scored twice in the corresponding home match, and we are seeing him at his best.

When Issa Diop lost the ball Kaoru Mitoma netted, only for the assistant referee to give Minteh offside. Danny Welbeck came on and almost secured his customary late goal, then another substitute Simon Adingra also fell into the offside trap.

The match was well into added time when Joao Pedro darted between Harrison Reed and Joachim Andersen. In making a clearance Harrison connected with Pedro's foot. The striker fell dramatically and referee Sam Barrott awarded a penalty. With his uncanny anticipation Leno got on hand to the ball but he could not quite deflect Pedro's kick.

I expected Marco Silva to be fuming but the head coach was unexpectedly philosophical: 'I'm not complaining. A clever striker felt contact and won this penalty. We expect this type of striker to do this. If it was my side, I'd ask for a penalty'.

He was less sanguine about the Brighton equaliser, echoing commentator Jonathan Pearce's cry 'Where on earth was the Fulham defence?' This was not a match that we would want to see repeated at Wembley.

FA Cup excitement grows

When I first visited the Cottage, Jack Hinshelwood's great-grandfather was a teenager playing for the Whites. Since then, the club has not enjoyed that many FA Cup runs so it is great to be purchasing tickets for the quarter-finals. Not too long ago it would have meant queuing for three hours in Stevenage Road. Now the process takes a minute or so on the computer – or should do anyway.

On Monday I followed the link from a club email only to be informed that there were no seats available matching my criteria (?). With help from a younger generation, I did eventually locate my ticket, yet when I tried to pay I met further delays before completion.

My browser may have been to blame for some of this fuss but the website is not perfect. Significantly on Tuesday morning the club issued clear instructions on how to apply for the FA Cup tickets so other people must have experienced similar difficulty.