Brighton's first home fixture of the new Premier League season against Manchester United always looked like a big test for Fabian Hürzeler after his memorable 3-0 victory over Everton on the opening day.
The Seagulls started the match looking somewhat rusty, but 32 minutes into the game Danny Welbeck poked home Kaoru Mitoma's cross to put Brighton ahead.
The Red Devils brought on Joshua Zirkzee at half-time, before Amad Diallo equalised on the hour mark.
The away side thought they had taken the lead 12 minutes later when Alejandro Garnacho turned home Bruno Fernandes' cross, but a VAR check deemed the ball to have flicked off United's half-time substitute in an offside position.
The match looked set to finish 1-1 until Simon Adingra's dinked cross was headed in by João Pedro in the 95th minute.
This was a goal which kept Brighton top of the table until action later in the day.
Here are some key points that were noticed during the encounter.
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Billy Gilmour set to stay?
Scotland international Billy Gilmour has been linked with a move away to Napoli throughout this transfer window.
Gilmour was named in the starting XI - replacing the injured Mats Wieffer - and this came as quite a shock to many Albion fans, as just days ago there had been reports of a deal being agreed between the two clubs, with medicals planned for early next week.
Supporters seemed sceptical about his inclusion and questioned if the 23-year-old would perform at his best and risk an injury if the deal was as close as reports suggested.
After a shaky first few minutes, Gilmour proceeded to remove any doubt from Brighton fan's minds by putting in a fantastic first-half performance, completing 26 out of 29 passes, winning 100% of his tackles, and 90% of his ground duels.
The ex-Chelsea man gave everything he had in his 90 minutes and it is rare to see a player put in the effort and a performance like that if they are leaving any time soon.
Of course, there is still every chance that Gilmour does leave, with Italian sources still certain he will arrive at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on Monday.
If the Scot does stay, this performance gives a real selection headache and impressive depth in the midfield position with the likes of James Milner, Carlos Baleba, Yasin Ayari, Wieffer, and reported new signing Matt O'Riley.
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A better squad than last season
During the 2023/24 season, Brighton picked up multiple injuries to quite a few players and ultimately struggled to compete in the Premier League and Europa League.
While many teams above and around the Seagulls also had injury problems, they still managed to compete due the their depth, unlike Brighton who relied heavily on a few key players under Roberto de Zerbi.
For example, the south coast side found it difficult to create chances when Japanese star Mitoma was out injured, and this was made even worse with Solly March and Julio Enciso also being sidelined.
This left Adingra having to be the creative force on the wings, playing nearly every game from January to the end of the season. By the end of this spell, the AFCON champion was running on empty.
However, fast forward to today in the 2024/25 season and Brighton's depth is arguably one of the best in the league.
When starting widemen Yankuba Minteh and Mitoma had nothing left to give, the Seagulls were able to substitute on Georginio Rutter and Adingra who kept up that energy and attacking threat. The latter even picked up the match-winning assist in the dying minutes.
The Albion's wide options also include Julio Enciso, Brajan Gruda, Solly March, Jeremy Sarmiento and Amario Cozier-Duberry. That is some serious depth, even if there will be a few departures for the fringe players.
There is not just depth on the wings. There is also depth in all areas of the pitch, which was further highlighted today with the substitutes available to Hürzeler and also the players not named in the matchday squad
Enciso, Rutter, Baleba, Adingra, Ayari, Tariq Lamptey, Igor Julio, Adam Webster, and Carl Rushworth were named amongst the substitutes, while players such as Jakub Moder, March, Evan Ferguson, Pervis Estupiñán, Bart Verbruggen, Sarmiento, Cozier-Duberry and new signings Gruda and Wieffer were not named in the squad at all due to various reasons.
Tony Bloom also looks set to bring in Ferdi Kadıoğlu and O'Riley.
The Seagulls have a lot of players on their books, so it would not come as a surprise to see a few departures as previously mentioned.
Sarmiento, Moder, Lamptey, Cozier-Duberry, and Rushworth have all been linked with permanent and loan moves away from the club.
The depth and quality within the squad is something Brighton fans could only dream of when they were hanging on the brink of extinction not so long ago. The fans and the club will never be able to thank Bloom enough.
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Rutter's right-wing cameo
The Albion's acquisition of Rutter came as quite a shock to football fans with the squad already being packed with attacking talent.
There was quite a debate across social media as to where the £40 million man will be played throughout the season.
Striker, centre forward, or number 10 - he had played all three positions during his time at Leeds United.
In an exclusive interview that was released on the club's YouTube channel, the French forward stated that Hürzeler had told him that he would like to utilise his talents in a different position he had not played before.
The exact position was not revealed.
Brighton fans began to wonder if this meant the 22-year-old would be deployed slightly deeper in the midfield as one of the German's 'false 10s'.
When looking at his statistics and style of play, many started to see the vision and were adamant the former TSG Hoffenheim wunderkind was signed as a midfielder.
The new Joelinton, perhaps?
While this may be the case in future games, Hürzeler could have cast doubt on the aforementioned idea with Albion's new number 14 replacing Minteh in today's game and playing out on the right - a position not many could have envisioned Rutter playing - for the final seven minutes.
The record signing showed glimpses of what he can offer this season, playing some impressive passes and driving inside to force Man United's backline further into their box, so maybe the exciting forward is viewed as a winger.
As mentioned before, Brighton have many options on the wings, so it seems unlikely to see Rutter used out on the right often when everybody is fit and available.
The signing of O'Riley also makes the idea of the Frenchman playing in midfield more unlikely, but it will certainly be something to keep an eye on across the next few fixtures.
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No fear on show
Arguably the most thrilling takeaway from the game is that Brighton were prepared to press high for the entire game, no matter who they were playing or what the situation was.
In most cases, any team would be more than content to see a game versus The Red Devils end as a draw, especially one as even as this.
2024-25 Brighton are not most cases, though.
There was no fear evident in the 31-year-old's side as they continued to pile forward late into the game and leave themselves somewhat vulnerable at the back.
This lack of fear was further reinforced when the coaching staff made three attacking substitutions in the 90th minute, bringing on Adingra, Rutter and Ayari.
It was a mentality that paid off, as the Seagulls went on to win the game 2-1 in the 95th minute.
While on another day this could have been a huge mistake which could have led to the opposition taking all three points, it can only be an exciting thing for supporters that their team is not scared to go toe-to-toe with anybody.
