Brighton achieved a first-ever win in European competitions as goals from promising new strike duo João Pedro and Ansu Fati saw the Seagulls ease past managerless Ajax.
Following a tough start to Europa League life against AEK Athens and Marseille, Brighton were more assured in their latest meeting and took an inexperienced Ajax side to task on a moist night at the Amex Stadium.
The Dutch visitors admittedly had their preparation disrupted by the sacking of manager Maurice Steijn just three days prior and had a squad that contained little of the experience expected of a four-time European Cup-winning club.
The nature of the Seagulls’ victory, meanwhile, was all the more impressive given their mounting injury concerns, a point which kicks off our key takes from the match.
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Brighton can weather the storm
After Solly March and Danny Welbeck suffered serious injuries in the Seagulls’ 2-1 defeat at Manchester City last weekend, Brighton fans had every right to start worrying about the growing list of sidelined players.
Pervis Estupiñán, Tariq Lamptey, Jakub Moder and Julio Enciso were already in that number, and without an obvious left-back or an experienced striker for this meeting, it could have been a testing night.
Between an outstanding defensive shift from James Milner and a blossoming partnership between 22-year-old Pedro and Fati – four days short of his 21st birthday – Roberto De Zerbi tackled his issues superbly in such a high-stakes contest.
While Pedro and Fati will steal the headlines with their goals and largely faultless performances leading the line, the evergreen Milner’s contribution was also an excellent return to type.
He faced blatant struggles against Jérémy Doku whilst playing at right-back last time out, but Milner switched over to the left with ease, having the fourth most touches of anyone on the pitch (93).
He bossed his battle with former Manchester City youngster Carlos Borges, a prodigy 18 years his junior, and continued to control proceedings when fellow teenager Kristian Hlynsson was brought on in the second half.
Fati and Pedro could have done little more either, shuffling superbly to throw centre-backs Josip Šutalo and Jorrel Hato off the scent and showing excellent movement to bag their goals.
The long-term absences of March and Welbeck will undoubtedly cause Brighton pain, but for the time being, De Zerbi’s troops showed an outstanding mentality to get on with their business without distractions at the Amex.
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You can’t win anything with kids
In the case of Manchester United, this iconic line was eventually disproved.
This Ajax side is surely good enough to do the same in time, but for now, their introduction to playing for one of the biggest clubs in European football has been a harsh one.
In the starting XI in Sussex were eight players aged 23 or younger, while six players had only been signed in the 2023 summer transfer window to repair a squad torn apart by bigger fish in the Premier League.
There could be extensive features written about Sven Mislintat’s role in a dramatic summer squad overhaul that saw 14 permanent departures and 13 incomings before his demise as director of football, but the 36-time Dutch champions’ issues lay deeper than that.
As exciting as young talents like 21-year-olds Brian Bobbey and Kenneth Taylor, and 17-year-old Hato, are, they cannot be relied upon to lead a charge on three fronts this season, with just ex-Watford man Steven Berghuis and captain Steven Bergwijn ahead of them in the experience stakes.
At the Amex, this was very much apparent, with Bobbey having just 18 touches, Taylor being generally overpowered in the midfield and Hato’s defending a little too excitable for both goals.
Three further teenagers followed off the bench for Ajax but failed to turn things around, and while Brighton’s squad shares the task of learning about European football on the job, there are stark contrasts in how much assistance the two sides have.
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Seagulls have gained respect
As the only side in Group B without European experience, Brighton could have very easily been underestimated this season by their opponents.
Of course, the pressure is on the Seagulls when they are at home and things didn’t work out so well when AEK Athens brought their siege mentality to Sussex, but on this occasion, there was an evident respect offered by Ajax.
Imagine writing those very words even five years ago.
The four-time European champions, who have produced iconic teams such as the all-conquering 1972 total football outfit, Cruyff-Rijkaard-van Basten trifecta of 1983 and all-stars 1995 side, came to Brighton and played second fiddle.
Ultimately, few could blame interim manager Hedwiges Maduro for adopting a more cautious mentality for his young side after shipping 22 goals in the 11 matches they have completed this season.
For Brighton, though, the fact they bossed the Dutch side around with 64.4% possession was a huge victory for processes that have been in place ever since they broke ground in Falmer.
In this sense, it was fitting that captain Lewis Dunk was at the heart of the dominance, with a whopping 167 touches and 157 successful passes placing the Brighton boy in every incisive jab and flurry.
From Gus Poyet to Óscar García, Chris Hughton, Graham Potter and now De Zerbi, the Seagulls’ unwavering commitment to good football has paid full dividends with nights like these, putting them firmly on the continental map.
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Ajax’s slump will continue a little longer yet
With no wins in any competition since the opening round of matches, Ajax are suffering their worst slump for several years.
There is no shirking the fact that things are bad, and whoever the club appoint next as manager – with John van ‘t Schipt and Manchester United assistant manager Mitchell van der Gaag strongly linked – they will have to throw full weight behind them to emerge from this season with anything positive.
Really, though, the only signals in this meeting were that things would get worse before they get better.
Any hope the Dutchmen have of qualifying from a stacked Group B is waning without a win from their first three matches, and only Berghuis’ second-half shot onto the post suggested they would change that tune at the Amex.
To their credit, they stayed true to a particular style as goalkeeper Diant Ramaj saw plenty of the ball as the first point of any attack.
The only issue was that every outfield player had fewer than Ramaj’s 70 touches, with the side’s front six players desperately quiet, as if frozen out of fear for the club’s current state.
Someone will have to inspire these souls before the return fixture on Thursday, 9 November, because if they don’t, the Seagulls will swoop in to finish Ajax’s dream for good.
