Albion fans watched their side exchange gifts with Burnley as hopes of European football next season slowly ebb away.

The Clarets started brightly and missed two guilt-edged opportunities to go in front as they try escape the relegation zone.

Albion looked uninspired and struggled to really get a foothold on the game.

It was a frustrating watch for Brighton fans who made the nearly 300 mile journey north.

That frustration continued as Pervis Estupinan appeared to injure his ankle when planting his foot, adding to the long injury list which has plagued Albion’s season.

The Argus: It was a nearly 600 mile round trip to BurnleyIt was a nearly 600 mile round trip to Burnley (Image: Richard Parkes)

It looked like it was going to be a 0-0 draw but 74 minutes in Carlos Baleba played a short back pass which Verbruggen tried to clear.

He was in a race against Josh Brownhill who chased it down but the Dutch keeper’s clearance cannoned off the midfielder and into the empty net to give Vincent Kompany’s side the lead.

It was not a fun five minutes to be an Albion fan… until another defensive clanger up the other end.

A simple back pass was played back to Arijanet Muric in goal and the ball rolled underneath his foot and into the back of the net.

Albion were back level with an absolute gift.

The game ended 1-1 leaving Brighton in tenth with 44 points and six points off Manchester United in seventh.

Roberto De Zerbi’s host Manchester City on April 25 for their next match.

Pictures by Richard Parkes.