Brighton are a club built on statistics, from owner Tony Bloom’sgambling to the global recruitmentand even the permutations that could still see them qualify for Europe. Defeating Wolves allowed for more simple equations being the answer, as Danny Welbeck reached 10 goals in a season for the first time in his almost 17-year career before Brajan Gruda opened his Seagulls account.
At 34, Welbeck has found his best form and showed the confidence to score from the spot after Matheus Cunha gifted Brighton a penalty.
In a Brighton team made up of players from across the world, possessing the fluidity and versatility required to change positions at a second’s notice, the lad from Longsight can still be relied upon to do the basics right as a relentless centre-forward.
Wolves started the more promisingly but did not possess a reliable striker. With Jørgen Strand Larsen deemed only fit enough for the bench, Vítor Pereira gave Gonçalo Guedes a chance down the middle. Unfortunately, the Portuguese winger is not a prolific scorer, the most recent of his five goals in 31 appearances this season coming in December. He had two fine early chances but failed to sort his feet out quickly on both occasions and failed to bother Bart Verbruggen.
Brighton had earmarked Cunha as Wolves’ most dangerous player and tasked Mats Wieffer with being his shadow whenever the hosts had possession. Wherever the Brazilian wandered, the curly-haired Dutchman was never far behind him, making him completely ineffective.
Despite the close attention of Wolves’ most talented man, Pereira’s side were on top in the early stages but without engaging the Brighton goalkeeper. Wolves were almost architects of their own downfall when José Sá pinged a clearance while 40 yards out from goal straight to Matt O’Riley, who should have taken a touch and shot towards the empty net from the halfway line but decided to pass and Yankuba Minteh failed to do anything with the chance.
It was an enjoyable fixture with both sides intent on attacking. VAR, however, sucked the fun out of it when Welbeck turned in a Tariq Lamptey cross, wheeling away to celebrate double figures, or so he thought. The assistant’s flag very belatedly went up and then there was a tediously lengthy check to ascertain that Minteh was offside and in the goalkeeper’s eyeline, even though he failed to touch the ball.
Brighton need not have worried because the man-marking duo Cunha and Wieffer went under the spotlight. The Brazilian took a poor touch facing his own goal, Wieffer nipped in and was then clumsily brought down by Cunha when through one-on-one inside the box. A booking for Cunha was the punishment and Welbeck added to it, reaching the historic milestone in the process.
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As the hour mark approached, Pereira acted by making a quadruple change to liven things up and bring on Strand Larsen for Cunha to provide a much-need focal point in the final third. There was greater energy and zip for Wolves with their new foursome. Strand Larsen was planning a tap-in from a Rayan Aït-Nouri cross until Verbruggen threw out an arm to divert it away from the beanpole striker. They were further punished for their ineptitude in front of goal when Simon Adingra slipped in Gruda to dink home the second.
The victory keeps Brighton in the hunt for Europe but they are reliant on finishing eighth, Newcastle and Manchester City securing European football via the league, and the latter also winning the FA Cup final. The odds are still against them but Brighton and Welbeck know how to embrace a statistical anomaly.