CMS injured in goalless draw

Matthew Upson and Dean Hammond salute the fans after the draw (photo Simon Dack) Matthew Upson and Dean Hammond salute the fans after the draw (photo Simon Dack)

Albion ground out a point in a non-event out west tonight.

But their 0-0 draw at Bristol City was marred by injury to Craig Mackail-Smith.

The striker, preferred in the starting line-up to a jaded Leo Ulloa, lost his footing as he turned past an opponent just before the break.

He was carried to the changing room and immediately replaced by Ulloa.

Albion failed to muster a shot at goal all night but the superb Matt Upson marshalled a solid defensive performance.

They had a scare in the 32nd minute when Tomasz Kuszczak had to be sharp to push Kelly’s 20-yard volley into the air.

Jon Stead followed up to bundle the ball into the net – but he sent Kuszczak in too and the gal was ruled out.

Arguably Albion’s biggest first-half fright, though, came when Adam El-Abd’s poor back pass looked to have sent Paul Anderson through on goal but Upson was across quickly to make a terrific tackle.

The Seagulls never looked like scoring but, while City pushed forward, Kuszczak was never really extended.

He back-pedalled to hold a Kelly shot which was looping under the bar via a deflection.

Comments(32)

Chi Gull says...
9:48pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Well no shots all night - very disappointing - but a point isn't too bad given other results.

Forest seem to be coming with a late run. Bolton's 0-0 home draw augers well for Saturday.

brightonup says...
9:51pm Tue 5 Mar 13

....and yet another draw!
As it turns out we are effectively 3 points and a game in hand above 7th place!

SMF20 says...
9:53pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Sounds like a point very much gained to me.

I can't believe we didn't have even 1 shot on or off target.

Bad day at the office yet a slightly bigger gap to 7th than at 19.45. Game in hand too.

We move on with hopefully a recharged Vicente and a fit again Bridge available for Saturday.

Uta

bruce beckett says...
9:55pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Sounded like a dreadful game, but as I said beforehand, a point away is not the end of the world.

I'm much more concerned about the injury to CMS. Okay, so he hasn't done much lately, but with Hoskins out, we can't afford to lose another striker.

Tony the tiger eastbourne says...
9:55pm Tue 5 Mar 13

A bit disappointed after Saturdays result. No efforts on target!! That's poor, although the defence played well. Hope CMS is okay

Graysgull says...
9:55pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Not the most exciting game tonight, and not the worst result considering other results tonight.

Must be the first game for months where we haven't had the lions share of possession. Only 33% tonight according to BBC.

Bit concerned about CMS, hope it's not a serious injury.

Look forward to a better game Saturday

Willie, Willie Irvine says...
9:58pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Well done Upson and the rest of the defence. A valuable point gained, in the circumstances.

Willie, Willie Irvine says...
10:01pm Tue 5 Mar 13

...and Gus won't get the Chelsea job on the strength of that!

VegasSeagull says...
10:01pm Tue 5 Mar 13

So from this game we can be pleased that Upson had a good match, what else can we point to, nothing.

Did our boys go into this match over confident, did Poyet too.
I can understand giving Ulloa a break but why was Barnes not on the bench. If Ulloa needed a rest would it not make sense to have Barnes available. Barker was on the bench and stayed there, if you are not going to use him why have him available.

I don't know what to make of tonight. There have to be answers to the questions that will be asked after tonight. Not one single shot, that has to be a first. Nothing created wide or thru midfield, not one opening, another first?

Promotion, not on tonights performance, and NO I don't need to be there to know that this was a poor performance, the stats tell us that.

Neville says...
10:02pm Tue 5 Mar 13

McKail Smith achilles injury,Gus looking to loan market now according to radio

falmer seagull says...
10:07pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Brighton 33% possession, why????

Neville says...
10:07pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Attn Vegas
Barnes was ill with sickness and virus

GosportGull says...
10:10pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Tonight was crying out for some inspirational changes in the second half ... and nothing happened ... im not quite sure what goes through Poyets mind sometimes .. you would think Ulloa would be deseperate to bang in another 3 goals, confidence high and wanting to please the manager and fans ..but gets relegated to the bench ? Wonder what other manager would drop a forward on fire , tired or not...

As it turned out , results went for us in this crazy Championship season ..but we shouldnt be relying on other results playing a bottom 3 side if we are serious about the play-offs .....

tonytowner1 says...
10:11pm Tue 5 Mar 13

VegasSeagull wrote:
So from this game we can be pleased that Upson had a good match, what else can we point to, nothing.

Did our boys go into this match over confident, did Poyet too.
I can understand giving Ulloa a break but why was Barnes not on the bench. If Ulloa needed a rest would it not make sense to have Barnes available. Barker was on the bench and stayed there, if you are not going to use him why have him available.

I don't know what to make of tonight. There have to be answers to the questions that will be asked after tonight. Not one single shot, that has to be a first. Nothing created wide or thru midfield, not one opening, another first?

Promotion, not on tonights performance, and NO I don't need to be there to know that this was a poor performance, the stats tell us that.
Barnes had a sickness bug or similar. Still, 6 on the trot now without him starting and unbeaten. We showed our ineptness this evening against a "big" (physically) team - pity. No room for Lua Lua and clearly a complete and utter lack of incisiveness. Anyone know either:

Last time we managed no shots on target and no shots off target?

Last time 8 "B"s in The Championship (or any league) all played each other? Am sure someone will know!!

Jadedness, lack of match fitness, inability to play many matches close together continue to be an issue - hopefully though a blip and Saturday will see a different approach against a team that at The Amex we could have scored 11 against just 3 months back!!

The Phantom says...
10:25pm Tue 5 Mar 13

It is a decent point - sounds like Bristol City worked hard and totally negated our way of playing. O'Driscoll is a very good manager and City have won their last four at home. Didn't sound like we were ever in much danger of losing despite the stats - incidentally I would take the BBC stats of 67-33 in City's favour with a pinch of sort. Brighton still had plenty of possession but did nothing with it.

VegasSeagull says...
10:25pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Neville wrote:
Attn Vegas Barnes was ill with sickness and virus
Barnes being ill had slipped by me, that answers one question. Thanks.

Godstone Gull says...
10:25pm Tue 5 Mar 13

falmer seagull wrote:
Brighton 33% possession, why????
Bristol set out to stop us playing.

VegasSeagull says...
10:29pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Those interested in possesion, at half time we had a 60-40 split in our favour.

The Phantom says...
10:40pm Tue 5 Mar 13

VegasSeagull wrote:
Those interested in possesion, at half time we had a 60-40 split in our favour.
Exactly the BBC possession stats are dubious to say the least. Their stats for Manchester United v Real Madrid were wrong as well.

hannover seagull says...
10:41pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Hats off to Graham W, A Skinner and co
real supporters who really do the miles

Would like to know your opinion of the game.

UTA..........

4everaseagull says...
10:46pm Tue 5 Mar 13

On way back from the game. Really dire game throughout we never looked like scoring. Gus bothers me at times as he can be so negative and does not seem to go for it enough. Lua Lua must wonder what he has to do to get on the pitch. Buckley was woeful tonight and contributed nothing. Hope CMS is ok. Positives out of tonight is we are still 6th & Upson was outstanding.

jockithenoo says...
10:52pm Tue 5 Mar 13

GosportGull wrote:
Tonight was crying out for some inspirational changes in the second half ... and nothing happened ... im not quite sure what goes through Poyets mind sometimes .. you would think Ulloa would be deseperate to bang in another 3 goals, confidence high and wanting to please the manager and fans ..but gets relegated to the bench ? Wonder what other manager would drop a forward on fire , tired or not...

As it turned out , results went for us in this crazy Championship season ..but we shouldnt be relying on other results playing a bottom 3 side if we are serious about the play-offs .....
Raffa would drop a player on fire !
Maybe Gus wants chelskie Job lol
Its a joke
UTA
we go marching on

hannover seagull says...
10:55pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Hats off to Graham W, A Skinner and co
real supporters who really do the miles

Would like to know your opinion of the game.

UTA..........

Clean Sheet says...
11:01pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Just back from the match, and in reality Bristol were the better side, and seemed to have more desire tonight. For me possession was nearer 55/45 to Bristol, but they never really looked like scoring. I made Adam our best player. Calde was way off the pace, Buckers had a quiet night, Bridders oozed class. CMS turned his ankle and he knew immediately that it was trouble. Ullua did not really achieve much except upset the home supporters with some of his antics. Surprised that KLL didn't come on in the second half, as the game was crying out for something different.

Eddy B says...
11:04pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Very puzzling performance after Saturday. I find it odd Ulloa didn't start after his performance Saturday. He's just the sort of heavy weight we need up front against a team like Bristol C.

Then again I find the whole concept of a professional sportsman being jaded or fatigued (Vicente?) a bit odd.

But the team was barely different from the one that played so well on Saturday so unbelievable they managed zero shots. Why don't we play nice attractive football away from the Amex - could be to do with the opposition attacking us more, or the quality of the surfaces? Any theories?

The commentators on the radio do make some odd observations eg. contradicting themselves (one moment bemoaning our rushed build up, the next advising we should move up a gear and attack at pace) and failing to acknowledge the opposition's chances. From listening and from the statistics of shots and corners (I wasn't there in person) I think we have to conclude this was a lucky point and Upson and El Abd were outstanding.

Hats off to the supporters making the trip tonight!

Clean Sheet says...
11:19pm Tue 5 Mar 13

It was not a lucky point, our defence was very solid, particularly the 2 CB's. Brizzle were sharper than us, but I was never overly concerned that they would score. We were poor, and a bit off the pace. Nobody was really looking for the ball except CMS before his injury. At our throws and free kicks, we were too slow and static. We missed creativity in Midfield, and the midfield were too slow to support CMS or Ulloa. In all I was happy to take the point, but it wasn't lucky.

hannover seagull says...
11:27pm Tue 5 Mar 13

4everaseagull wrote:
On way back from the game. Really dire game throughout we never looked like scoring. Gus bothers me at times as he can be so negative and does not seem to go for it enough. Lua Lua must wonder what he has to do to get on the pitch. Buckley was woeful tonight and contributed nothing. Hope CMS is ok. Positives out of tonight is we are still 6th & Upson was outstanding.
Well said

I would like to see Kaz start for a change

Upson is class and proves once again Gus and TB have their finger on the pulse
Safe journey
UTA---------

Chi Gull says...
11:40pm Tue 5 Mar 13

By the way..i forgot Bolton was a late kick off and they got a last minute winner... so they and Forest have closed the gap.

Ulloa hasnt been with us long and isnt used to two games a week. Not surprised he was jaded after Saturday. It's not like the old days when players were in the pub or the bookmakers just before the game. Its a much tougher more physical game today. A big squad means the manager can rest players now and then. Ferguson did it with Rooney tonight. All managers do it in the modern game.

Major Bloodboil says...
11:42pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Was at the match tonight and it was a dire performance. Bristol were up for the fight and gave us no time on the ball harrying us all the time. All the 50/50's were won by them and despite what Gus says it looked like we were going for a point from the outset. If not then why no subs in the second half especially KLL for Buckers who seems to have lost confidence?? We again played a defensive game with no one forward at Bristol's corners. Upson was outstanding and his match saving tackle even had the referee admiring it. Adam E-A had some shaky moments but frankly the only other player who played to their full potential was TK in goal - He was very solid and caught numerous crosses. Ulloa hardly won a header and committed a number of fouls. I think that he sustained an injury towards the end. Good to get a point but what an awful spectacle for the travelling fans.

Freeloaders says...
4:10am Wed 6 Mar 13

4everaseagull wrote:
On way back from the game. Really dire game throughout we never looked like scoring. Gus bothers me at times as he can be so negative and does not seem to go for it enough. Lua Lua must wonder what he has to do to get on the pitch. Buckley was woeful tonight and contributed nothing. Hope CMS is ok. Positives out of tonight is we are still 6th & Upson was outstanding.
LuaLua needs to do the same as Buckley and keep out the nightclubs for a bit.Gus got sick of LuaLua long ago,thats why he gets so little playing time.It was very poor last night,but i thought upson yet again had a very good game.Loan striker a must now.

Freeloaders says...
4:12am Wed 6 Mar 13

4everaseagull wrote:
On way back from the game. Really dire game throughout we never looked like scoring. Gus bothers me at times as he can be so negative and does not seem to go for it enough. Lua Lua must wonder what he has to do to get on the pitch. Buckley was woeful tonight and contributed nothing. Hope CMS is ok. Positives out of tonight is we are still 6th & Upson was outstanding.
LuaLua needs to do the same as Buckley and keep out the nightclubs for a bit.Gus got sick of LuaLua long ago,thats why he gets so little playing time.It was very poor last night,but i thought upson yet again had a very good game.Loan striker a must now.

Gibseagull says...
6:44am Wed 6 Mar 13

It sounds to me, bizarrely, as though we played for a draw. And surely we should've worked out by now how to play against sides that close us down quickly, we've had enough practice! A disappointing result in the overall scheme of things, hope it doesn't come back to bite us at the end of the season.

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