Adam Clery Football Column. A newsletter that unpacks the absurdities and oddities of the beautiful gameThe ACFC newsletter: unpacking football’s absurditiesUnpack football’s oddities with the ACFC newsletterDiego Gomez scored his first Premier League goals of the season as Brighton romped to a 3-0 win over a desperately poor Leeds at the Amex Stadium.The home side were at their dynamic, free-flowing best and showed no mercy once Daniel Farke’s team began to fall apart midway through the second half, though even before that Leeds had offered next to nothing.It was a miserable away performance throughout which laid bare the problems this team has scoring goals on the road with just three all season.Danny Welbeck opened the scoring early, the visitors held the score at 1-0 for almost an hour then capitulated in the space of seven minutes, Gomez twice showing perfect timing in the box to put Leeds to the sword.Yankuba Minteh was Brighton’s best player in the first half, an expert study in ball control and forceful penetration, while Welbeck continued his late-career renaissance with his sixth of the season.It was, by contrast, difficult to pick out a contribution from Leeds, who spent 25 minutes struggling to win the ball before finding they had few ideas what to do with it. A lonely Dominic Calvert Lewin was seen in Brighton’s half, unable to find any support. At the other end they also looked uncertain. Ethan Ampadu conceded the ball early in the game. Yasin ayari was able to drive at goal and Lucas Perri saved it. The opening came after 11 minutes. Minteh clipped the wide ball into Mats Welbeck’s path. Perri then made the disastrous decision to go out to meet Brighton full-back Mats Welbeck, leaving the goal unguarded. Welbeck finished into the empty goal. Sean Longstaff sent a high-flying free-kick over the bar, which would have cleared both goal frames. This was a neat summary of Brighton’s almost non-existent attacking threat in the first half. Jan Paul van Hecke’s brilliant tackle to win the ball in the Leeds half allowed Welbeck to shoot from distance. Such is the striker’s form that it came as a surprise when his 20-yard curler whistled the wrong side of the post.Minteh came within inches of a deserved Brighton second, firing inches wide after a wonderful run which left Jaka Bijol tackling at thin air.All three of Leeds’ away goals in the league came in a 14-minute spell against bottom side Wolves in September, and here again they were painfully short of ideas.They offered more of the same in the second half. Minteh scored the second goal, which was a predictable outcome. The former Feyenoord left winger took the ball, stood up Gabriel Gudmundsson and then skipped impudently ahead of him. Gomez arrived to open his Premier League score.
2025-11-01 17:06:37
Diego Gomez scores twice as Brighton breeze past Leeds
