Brighton stage great escape to book FA Cup semi with Man City

Brighton came from 2-0 down to beat Millwall on penalties to book an FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City.

Brighton goalkeeper Mat Ryan celebrates after his side beat Millwall 5-4 on penalties to reach the FA Cup semi-finals. Picture: AFP

Brighton came from 2-0 down and were then behind in a shootout before they beat Millwall 5-4 on penalties to reach an FA Cup semi-final with quadruple-chasing Manchester City.

It seemed Championship strugglers Millwall were on the brink of delighting their home crowd at the Den at 2-0 up with just two minutes of normal time left after second-half goals by Alex Pearce and Aiden O’Brien.

But Brighton pulled one back through Jurgen Locadia and then, in the fifth minute of added time and the last act of regulation play, Solly March’s seemingly harmless free kick into the box left Millwall goalkeeper David Martin flapping at the ball before it settled in the top corner to send the tie into extra time.

Millwall were reduced to 10 men a minute from the end of extra time when likely penalty-taker Shane Ferguson was sent off for a petulant stamp on Lewis Dunk.

At the very end of extra time, Brighton thought they had a winner only for Martin Montoya, in a match without VAR, to be incorrectly flagged for offside as the tie headed to penalties.

Further drama followed when Brighton’s Glenn Murray struck the opening penalty of the shootout onto the crossbar.

Both sides then found the back of the net until Brighton’s Socceroos goalkeeper Mat Ryan blocked Mahlon Romeo’s effort with his legs to leave the shootout level at 3-3 before ‘sudden death’ came into play at 4-4.

Brighton skipper Dunk then powered a penalty low to Martin’s right before, with Millwall needing to score to keep the tie alive, Jake Cooper put his effort over the bar.

“It’s about character,” Brighton manager Chris Hughton said. “I think at 2-0 down with the thought of going out of the competition, we had a group of players that decided they desperately wanted to stay in the Cup.”

Hughton made no secret of the fact he’d rather the Seagulls faced either top-flight rivals Watford or Wolves, the other semi-finalists, in the last four at Wembley next month.

“I don’t think it is any surprise that all three teams didn’t want to draw Man City but at this moment we’re so pleased to go through,” he said.

“If in any way we don’t think we can win the semi-final there’s almost no point going into it.”

AFP