It was Groundhog Day down on the South Coast yesterday as Brighton ran out two-nil winners at the Amex, although “circumstances” ensured we got nothing out of this game.” Here’s six things we took from a frustrating afternoon before the international break.

1. The sending-off was the biggest talking point

Diego Gómez’s thunderbolt from 25 yards had Brighton ahead inside 15 minutes, but the game turned irretrievably on 23 minutes when Igor Thiago, initially only booked for his reaction to being pulled and shoved by Chema Andres, had his card upgraded to red after referee Michael Oliver was sent to the pitchside monitor. Pascal Gross made it 2-0 from the penalty spot before the break, and that was that. Keith Andrews addressed the issues afterwards: “We’ve lost two games in the league this season and both have been when we’ve gone down to 10 men, so you need to analyse yourself first clearly.” But once we went down to ten against a team playing as well as Brighton are right now, there was really no way back.

2. Andrews isn’t happy with how VAR is being used – and nor are the fans.

The Brentford boss was pointed in his criticism of the process rather than just the outcome. “I’m struggling to believe in this day and age where we see the referee’s call on pitch and the bar of where they’re given the licence to referee in-game… but he’s been sent to the screen,” Andrews said, while still accepting responsibility: “On both scenarios, we can do better. On both scenarios, the opposition player has been the one to provoke the situation and antagonise our player… Players’ reactions now mean everything. I’m going to reiterate it: we should do better. But the game is in a state now of a place I don’t particularly like.” You can’t argue with any of that.

3. The fans are split on the red card – and so are the pundits

Passions were running high in the away end. One supporter, who’d travels from North Wales to every home and away match, was in no mood for balance: “The referee completely ignored five minutes of pushing and shoving Thiago before the incident… I’m sick of it now.” The debate raged nationally too – while plenty of ex-pros thought Thiago had been harshly treated in the moment, former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett backed the officials’ final call, saying bluntly that when a player puts his hand with force into an opponent’s face, “expect a red card.”

4.Have Brentford earned an unworthy reputation?
In Beesotted’s exclusive interview with Keith Andrews in the summer the Bees boss was asked whether Brentford were “a little bit too nice.” His response was that he wanted more fire, more edge, more of the robustness that’s helped turn results our way this season. On the podcast, Billy reflected that it might be spilling over in moments like this one. Andrews himself isn’t for turning, though: “We play on the edge, we’re a team that likes to play on the edge, I want us to be on the edge. But it clearly cost us” on this occasion. Is there becoming a discipline issue now however?

5. Even at full strength, Were Brighton too strong?

Brighton sit second in the Premier League, five points off Arsenal, and Match of the Day’s Leon Osman wasn’t short of praise for them on the BBC afterwards: “The football they’re playing is outstanding,” adding that Champions League qualification is “probably the minimum” he’d now expect from Fabian Hürzeler’s side. Our own fans in the Bermuda Triangle WhatsApp groups and pub conversations on the day admitted as much – Brighton were simply “ahead of us in savviness” and “ahead of us in their quality” right now, with or without the sending-off.

6. Onwards to the break, then will Callum Wilson gets his chance?

A couple of weeks off to lick the wounds, and then Everton at home. With Thiago suspended, the conversation on the podcast turned straight to who leads the line next – “let’s see what Callum Wilson does now,” as one fan put it, with his own free run at a start. It’s one defeat, our second in the league all season, and it came with a man advantage stripped away for over an hour against the form team in the country. Or do you think Kevin Schade will play in a more central position with Dango and Anthony either side on the wings?

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