Brighton Strasbourg: Seagulls Fight Back to Win 4-3 in Austria
Brighton produced a stirring pre-season comeback in Austria, fighting back from 2-0 down to beat French top-flight side Strasbourg 4-3 in Vienna. The Brighton Strasbourg friendly, staged at the Austrian FA’s headquarters, saw the Seagulls answer Fabian Hürzeler’s call for set-piece efficiency, scoring from two penalties, a free-kick and a corner to turn the contest on its head.
Brighton Strasbourg: how the comeback unfolded
Hürzeler’s side were twice caught down their left inside the opening 12 minutes, with England Under-21 winger Samuel Amo-Amejaw curling home the opener before teeing up Marcel Godo for a second. The Albion hit back on 17 minutes through a Pascal Gross penalty, won when Mats Wieffer was fouled after a clever pass from Diego Gómez. Olivier Boscagli then lashed a superb first-time free-kick into the top corner — the pick of the goals — and Eiran Cashin added another from a corner as the set-piece work sharpened during Brighton’s pre-season preparations paid off in the searing 40-degree heat.
Leading 3-2 at the end of the 90 minutes, the Seagulls added a fourth during a 30-minute extra period tacked on for game time, Ibrahim Osman winning and converting a penalty, though Strasbourg grabbed a late reply to set the 4-3 final. Yankuba Minteh and Jack Hinshelwood had earlier gone close as Brighton grew into the contest after their sluggish start.
It caps a productive training week in Austria for Hürzeler ahead of a busy remainder to the summer schedule. As The Argus reported, Boscagli’s free-kick was the standout moment of a much-improved second-half display from the Albion.
