Match report: Brighton 1-1 Bournemouth

Just when it seemed another match would be dominated by the dreariness of a debatable video assistant referee decision, a moment of majesty from Charalampos Kostoulas provided a pertinent reminder of the beauty that football can provide.

With his side staring at what would have been a controversial defeat, the Greek substitute found himself facing away from the Bournemouth goal in the first minute of injury time. A touch of his chest bounced the ball upwards, before the 18-year-old produced a wonderful bicycle kick to send the Amex Stadium wild.

It meant spoils were shared and ensured the game was not decided by a first-half penalty that the referee had not initially given, instead punishing Amine Adli for a dive, only to change his mind and point to the spot when identifying on the pitchside monitor that Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen had touched the Moroccan as he tumbled to the ground. How much contact is too much contact? Does anyone even know any more?

The updated Premier League table

The result feels fair at the end of a hard-fought, often scruffy game. Marcus Tavernier’s debatable penalty was Bournemouth’s reward for an excellent first-half performance. Brighton dominated the second half without really threatening to score – until the teenage substitute Charalmpos Kostoulas’s memorable overhead kick in injury time.

90+9 min: Bournemouth substitution Veljko Milosavljevic comes on for the excellent Alex Jimenez.

90+7 min Minteh’s deflected cross loops towards Baleba, whose snap volley from the edge of the area is blocked. Bournemouth’s defenders will sleep well tonight.

90+5 min A cross from Jimenez is importantly cut out at the near post. Jimenez and Truffert, Bournemouth’s full-backs, have had superb games.

90+4 min Truffert is down after taking an accidental, but firm, elbow from Minteh in the face. There has been plenty of cheating tonight, as there is in every game, but that was an appreciable whack so I’m not surprised Truffert stayed down.

Boscagli’s deep cross from the left was headed down by Van Hecke at the far post. It bounced up to Kostoulas, who was facing away from goal near the penalty spot. He controlled the ball on the chest and launched into a looping overhead kick that swerved away from Petrovic and into the corner. Petrovic didn’t dive for some reason and started to motion that the ball was going wide. I don’t think he’d have saved it anyway but it was a slightly odd piece of goalkeeping.

90 min Eight minutes of added time.

90 min: Brighton substitution Ferdi Kadiolgu is replaced by Olivier Boscagli.

89 min Another Brighton corner comes to nothing. Bournemouth have defended admirably because they’ve looked shattered since about the 50th minute, yet Brighton haven’t created a clear chance in that time.

87 min If it stays like this Bournemouth will jump to 13th, level on points with Brighton but behind them on goal difference. It’s a games of snakes and ladders this season, with only nine points separating Liverpool in fourth and Spurs in fifteenth.

85 min Gross’s cross bounces off a defender to Van Hecke, who slashes over the bar from 12 yards. Petrovic is booked for wasting time at the resulting goalkick.

83 min Gross’s free-kick hits the wall and bounces towards Minteh on the edge of the area. He cuts across a good strike that is tipped over by Petrovic, an ultimately comfortable save.

83 min Adam Smith is booked for fouling Rutter.

82 min Gross’s corner is pushed away by Petrovic, under pressure, but only as far as Veltman eight yards from goal. He twists to hit a volley that is well blocked by a Bournemouth defender.

80 min Bournemouth take the corner short, fart around a bit and then lose the ball.

80 min The impressive Truffert wins a corner to give the Bournemouth defence, of which he is part, a bit of a breather.

79 min: Bournemouth substitution Amine Adli limps off with cramp. Bafode Diakite replaces him.

78 min: Brighton substitution Charalampos Kostoulas come on for Danny Welbeck.

77 min More boos as Van Hecke is booked for a flying challenge on Scott. He got the ball but both feet were off the ground and the referee decides it was a reckless challenge.

73 min For all Brighton’s pressure, they haven’t had a shot on target in the second half. Nor have Bournemouth for that matter.

71 min: Double substitution for Bournemouth Ryan Christie and the main man, Adam Smith, come on for Eli Junior Kroupi and the limping Marcus Tavernier

70 min Gross’s shot from the edge of the area deflects over for another Brighton corner. Bournemouth look tired and are hanging on a bit. Tavernier is down, which leads to a delay taking the corner and more boos from the home fans.

68 min “One of Adam Smith’s canons,” begins Niall Mullen, “is that right foot of his.”

67 min: Triple substitution for Brighton Yankuba Minteh, Carlos Baleba and Georginio Rutter come on for Brajan Gruda, Jack Hinshelwood and Diego Gomez.

64 min Lots of Brighton pressure now. Gruda finds Welbeck in the area but his driven cross is cut out at the near post.

61 min “Contemplating the existence of Adam Smith on the Bournemouth bench made me realise how apt that is,” writes Ian Copestake. “If he comes on he will bring with him concepts that football thrives on, from the invisible hand (of God), division of labor (4.4.2), and free transfer markets (laissez-faire) as drivers of prosperity, emphasizing self-interest and competition over mercantilism, and laying the groundwork for capitalism!”

Yeah but Brighton have got James Milner on their bench.

60 min Now Senesi gets a yellow card for fouling Van Hecke. Brighton are having their best spell since the opening 10 minutes.

58 min It was Fabian Hurzeler who was booked a few minutes ago, and now Welbeck has joined him for a foul on Senesi.

56 min Brighton appeal unsuccessfully for a penalty when a header hits the arm of Senesi. I think it deflected onto his arm, and he was only a couple of yards away from the Brighton player anyway.

55 min The resulting corner is swung beyond the far post, where Van Hecke goes down holding his head after an aerial challenge. There’s a bit of pushing from players on both sides, nothing much.

Replays show that Scott jumped over Van Hecke, chested the ball behind for another corner and then gave Van Hecke a bit of a mouthful. It wasn’t a foul, though the Brighton bench disagreed and one of them has just been booked.

54 min Jimenez blocks a cross from Mitoma, then screams in celebration. Mitoma responds with a yap-yap hand gesture.

52 min Hill’s long throw is pushed over his own bar by Verbruggen. The corner leads to a shot on the turn from Kroupi that is blocked, then a long-range shot from Scott that is also blocked.

49 min At the other end, Mitoma flashes a lovely curler just wide from the edge of the area. He’s been quiet but that was a fine effort.

48 min A banrstorming run from Jimenez ends with a pass to Kroupi, though I think it was intended for Evanilson. Kroupi looks set to charge straight through the heart of the defence until Van Becke makes a vital challenge.

46 min Bournemouth get the second half under way.

“Rob,” says Niall Mullen. “Was VAR invented by someone who looked at football and thought ‘you know what this activity, that brings joy to millions by reminding them there’s a world beyond the horrors of the world, needs - more admin’?”

Half-time reading

45+1 min Three minutes of added time.

45 min Truffert moves down the left and swirls an ultra-inviting cross towards Evanilson, 12 yards out. He hangs in the air for an age and powers a downward header that bounces just wide of the far post. That was a fine effort.

44 min The resulting free-kick is overhit by Gruda, who was trying to cross it to the far post but stuck it behind for a goalkick.

43 min Mitoma beats Jimenez and is fouled 25 yards from goal by Tavernier.

42 min Brighton have a strong home record – only Villa have won here in the league this season – but they’ve been completely outplayed in the last half an hour. When Bournemouth are good…

37 min Evanilson slaloms into the area before dragging a tired shot wide of the near post.

36 min Gross’s corner is headed towards goal by Hinshelwood, stooping at the far post, and Petrovic makes a fine instinctive save.

35 min Gross wins a corner for Brighton, who rightly or wrongly are affronted by the manner of Bournemouth’s goal.

29 min The referee has been told to go to the monitor. I thought it might be a ‘referee’s call’ decision but there was definitely contact. The issue is whether the contact was sufficient to knock Adli off his feet; it’s literally debatable.

28 min There’s a VAR check for a potential penalty.

27 min Bournemouth break from a Brighton corner. Tavernier gallops down the left and slides a pass towards Adli in the area. He knocks the ball past Verbruggen and then goes flying – but the referee Paul Tierney books him for diving.

I’d like to see that again because it looked like Verbruggen’s boot caught Adli’s thigh.

24 min Tavernier’s cross is backheaded into his own keeper’s hands by Gross. Not sure he meant it, but all’s well that ends well.

21 min Jimenez skips past Kadioglu on the right only to overhit his cross. It’s been an even game, but that evenness has come from each team dominating a 10-minute spell.

18 min Gomez does well to get between Tavernier and the ball in the Brighton area, though he has to concede another corner. It’s all Bournemouth now.

16 min This is a really good spell for Bournemouth. Tavernier storms past Kadioglou and cracks an inviting low cross that is turned behind by Van Hecke with Adli waiting behind him to score.

14 min Senesi’s ball over the top is controlled deftly on the run by Evanilson, who then hooks a left-foot shot that is comfortably saved by Verbruggen. Decent effort.

12 min A rare Bournemouth break leads to a corner when Evanilson’s long-range shot deflects behind.

10 min Brighton have had 78 per cent possession so far.

8 min Hinshelwood’s shot from the edge of the area deflects behind. The corner is taken short and worked infield Gruda, whose shot from the edge of the D is pushed away by the diving Petrovic. A fairly comfortable save.

6 min No surprise to see both teams pressing high up the pitch. So far it’s Brighton who are dominating possession.

4 min Kadioglu, playing at left-back tonight, cuts inside and hits a hopeful shot from the left edge of the penalty area. It bounces just in front of Petrovic, who holds on with authority. Good boy.

2 min “I have much interest in the game tonight,” writes Roger Kirkby. “If Bournemouth don’t win tonight, no team in the Premier League will have won their last two games. Something rare in the world of anoraks.”

Blimey. Do you know when it last happened?

1 min Brighton kick off from left to right as we watch, and Bournemouth striker Evanilson immediately sets off for the first press of the evening.

The players are ready to go on what looks a crisp evening in Brighton. Let’s play!

We’re only six months from the biggest single sporting occasion in the world. On 19 July in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the men’s World Cup final will kick off and a champion will be crowned (although it will be hard to top the last one).

The final will be more than a coronation (or confirmation, if Argentina repeat as champions). It will also be a culmination of six weeks of near non-stop soccer played across three countries, four time zones, and 16 cities. It’s likely that conclusions will already be drawn at that point on how the whole tournament fared. But for now, at this semi-convenient milestone, it’s worth taking stock of where we are six months out.

“Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day from across the the pond!” writes Peter Oh. “Doesn’t Amine Adli play for Morocco? If he gets to take a penalty for Bournemouth today I would strongly advise him not to, you know...”

In that scenario I’d be more worried about the Brighton players.

The beautiful game

Tonight’s game – please – will surely be quieter than last night’s