João Pedro and Fati fire Brighton to first European victory against ailing Ajax

Brighton gave Ajax a footballing lesson here. Let’s run that again: Brighton, a club that spent 34 years outside the English top flight before their return in 2017, took the inventors of modern football, the mighty Ajax, to school under the floodlights of Falmer. It’s the sort of occasion you’d imagine Brighton fans won’t have difficulty recalling in future, regardless of where this European tour ends up.

A first half goal from João Pedro was followed shortly after the break by another one from Ansu Fati to wrap this match up. The Seagulls had a couple of other decent chances, too, but their dominance was not truly captured by the scoreline, nor even by the 66% of possession they enjoyed. Instead, the gap between these two sides was marked by the ease with which the hosts went about their work: always composed, always calm, always with the ball under control. This was as true of the centre-half Jan Paul van Hecke as it was of the midfielder Pascal Gross.

The same, sadly, could not be said of the visitors.

It was disconcerting to watch an Ajax side play physical, defensive football, but it was at least in part understandable. Troubled on and off the field, the perennial Dutch champions sit second from bottom in the Eredivisie and came to Sussex with a temporary head coach, Hedwiges Maduro.

The Europa League has offered something of a respite this season for the Dutch side, with two hard-fought points to their name so far. The plan worked again here too – for half an hour at least – until Brighton punched through a dam that had begun to sprout leaks.

Leading the charge was Kaoru Mitoma, the winger on form from the off. Bewildering his full-back on the outside and inside, where he led his teammates eventually followed, learning where and how to put Ajax under pressure.

By the time the opening goal came just before half-time, it had a feeling of inevitability about it.

Playing keep-ball in the Dutch side’s half, Lewis Dunk began the move by punching a pass between two lines of defenders. Mitoma received the ball on the half turn and elegantly pivoted into the box with room for a shot which he duly drove at Diant Ramaj. The keeper got his body in the way but could only parry the ball to João Pedro who gobbled up the chance with glee.

That released whatever tension there had been inside the stadium, with Brighton still looking for the first three points of their debut European campaign. That prospect came into clearer focus five minutes after half-time when Fati doubled their lead. Again it was a punched pass straight down the middle that opened things up, this time from Simon Adingra who had drifted in off his station on the right wing. Fati received expertly and, from near the penalty spot, set himself up to shoot low across his marker and inside the left-hand post.

That was the Spaniard’s third goal for the club, and all from a meagre total of minutes. With Ajax showing little of the confidence or wherewithal necessary to get back into the match, the Barcelona starlet was withdrawn just after the hour. Of course, Roberto De Zerbi replaced him with another prodigy, the 18-year-old Argentine Facundo Buonanotte.

With the introduction of Carlos Baleba for Billy Gilmour at the same time, Brighton looked to use their position to manage the game to its conclusion.

This they did without a moment’s drama and despite a succession of substitutions. Buonanotte might have scored a third but could only shoot at Ramaj’s legs. Baleba was required to poke the ball off an Ajax toe to stop a rare foray in the 90th minute.

Otherwise, it was just the ball moving smoothly between blue and white shirts; a team, a club, that has never been anywhere like this stage before, coming to the conclusion that they were comfortable on it.