In some ways, Facundo Buonanotte picked the perfect time and appropriate place for his best moment yet in an Albion shirt.

Stamford Bridge was a fitting venue for his first eye-catching goal for the club.

It was at the same ground, albeit at the other end, that fellow South American Julio Enciso scored his second goal for the Seagulls and his first special.

Buonanotte, who bagged an opportunist tap-in at Nottingham Forest last season, did exactly the same on Sunday.

It was a great time because Buonanotte’s strike came at almost the same moment as a cracker from his compatriot and former club-mate Alexis Mac Allister.

Not that many of us knew it at the time if we were all wrapped up in events at Stamford Bridge rather than following other scores.

But Buonanotte stepped in off the right and curled with his left just five minutes or so after his mentor and role model Mac Allister enjoyed his own landmark moment by sending an effort soaring into the top corner at Anfield against Chelsea’s neighbours from Fulham.

If we are going to compare, Buonanotte’s goal would probably rank just behind those of Enciso and Mac Allister in a beauty contest.

But it was still a 'golazo' as they say – and just when his team needed inspiration.

What made it was the fact he knew what he was going to do – and Chelsea knew what he was going to do.

The defender in front of him, Levi Colwill, and the goalkeeper, Robert Sanchez, should certainly have known what to expect.

But they could not stop him pulling it off to perfection.

The other thing which counts against Buonanotte’s strike as an impact-maker was that it came in a defeat.

Enciso’s right-foot rocket at that ground proved to be the goal which gave Albion not only a win but their first ever league success at Chelsea.

It was historic for the club. But Buonanotte’s can be significant for him.

It feels like there has been some doubt over what impact he can make in England.

As there was, strange as it seems now, over Enciso until well into last season.

But, quietly, he will have been working away on a daily basis to settle into a new life, new football, new culture.

They have all had to wait for their chance to really make an impact – even World Cup winner Mac Allister or Moises Caicedo or Kaoru Mitoma.

But Buonanotte has looked very motivated and put himself about busily in a few recent games.

The first half against Sheffield United, for example, or the all-hands-on-deck final stages at Nottingham Forest.

And at Stamford Bridge in the period before his goal.

All the talk in Roberto De Zerbi’s post-match press conference at Chelsea was about refereeing, decisions, VAR and angry confrontation. Well, almost all of it.

At the risk of taking the national reporters off the path they wanted to pursue, I piped up with a question about Buonanotte and his goal.

Was that the moment we had been waiting for from him?

The context, of course, was that Albion had lost and the mood was pretty subdued.

Ideally, it did not feel like the moment to ask a positive question.

And that Buonanotte was taken off as part of a four-way tactical change around the hour mark.

But I felt it needed asking.

De Zerbi replied: “I’m sorry for Facundo because he deserved to play much time but I didn’t know how much time he could play in that situation.

“Adingra is used to finishing the game and Facundo no. For Baleba the same, for Adam Lallana the same.

“I changed four players but not because they were playing bad but for the physical condition.

“And Jack Hinshelwood because he took the yellow card and I have the right experience to u understand it could be the second red card on the pitch.”

But what about that potential breakthrough moment for Buonanotte?

De Zerbi said: “He scored a great goal but he played well.

“It was one of the best games in his time in Brighton.

“He is improving, The young players, if you give them the chance to play, if they have a talent they can show their quality like Jack Hinshelwood or Facundo, Baleba.

“Baleba played another big game, like he did against Liverpool at home.”

If Albion are at full strength, Buonanotte probably does not get into the starting XI.

But they are very rarely at full strength and, even if they were, it is a 16-man rather than 11-man game.

And there are often two 16-man games per week.

Perhaps the longest term of those absentees is Solly March and is there a case that Buonanotte is the most similar player in the squad to the Hailsham man?

A diligent worker who plays wide while looking to come inside more than flying down the outside.

Buonanotte is, for many, more of a No.10 than wideman.

But there are skills which are interchangeable.

Ten years ago, Oscar Garcia, the coach under whom March first really emerged, envisaged him developing into a No.10.

That did not happen, of course, but you can see why he might have said it.

Back in 2023 heading into 2024, one waits to see what that fine moment at Chelsea can do for Buonanotte, who does not even turn 19 until December 23 but who looks, talks and plays rather older than that.

It was a first for us but the type of goal he has probably produced in training and certainly scored in Argentina.

Just ask his former team-mate Francis Mac Allister at Rosario Central.

Francis enjoyed quite a Sunday in distant Argentina, watching his brother and then his mate and former colleague both score fine goals in the Premier League.

He said: “I remember one Facu scored like that but from outside the area against Atletico Tucuman. Great goal.”

With that he WhatsApped over a YouTube clip which did not work in this country.

But a quick search revealed Buonanotte switching the ball on to his left foot and hammering home from 25 yards.

That is what Albion bought him for.

But is worthless without the hard work, on a daily basis and at game time.

On the day of a Mac blast and at the scene of Enciso’s first Prem gem, Albion will hope Buonanotte has given himself a real shot in the arm, albeit in defeat.