Brighton Brighton & Hove Albion
2-2
Leeds Leeds United

Mackail-Smith (15' pen., 48')

FT(HT: 1-1)

Brown (66'), Diouf (36' pen.)

Preview

Match Analysis: Brighton & Hove Albion 2-2 Leeds United

By Michael Penkman, Reporter | 02 November 2012

Sports Mole takes a closer look at tonight's Championship encounter between Brighton & Hove Albion and Leeds United at the Amex Stadium.

Paddy Kenny's penalty save denied Brighton & Hove Albion all three points from their home fixture against Leeds United tonight.

The goalkeeper kept out Craig Mackail-Smith's 73rd-minute spot kick to ensure Leeds United earned a point at the Amex Stadium.

The Scotland striker had twice put the Seagulls in the lead, but El-Hadji Diouf and Lucciano Becchio came to the visitors' rescue.

Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look to see if the result was fair.

Match statistics

Brighton
Shots: 16
On Target: 10
Possession: 59%
Corners: 7
Fouls: 15

Leeds
Shots: 6
On Target: 4
Possession: 41%
Corners: 3
Fouls: 12

Was the result fair?

It's difficult to judge really. There can be no doubt that Brighton were the better team, but they didn't put their chances away. Leeds didn't necessarily deserve to lose, but the hosts probably did deserve to win.

Brighton's performance

8/10. Gus Poyet's men played with fluidity and their style is easy on the eye, while also having some thrust in attack when they invade the final third. Will Buckley and Craig Mackail-Smith were brilliant tonight and caused Leeds no end of problems at the back. However, the Scotland international missed a penalty that would have completed his hat-trick and surely sealed the points. Bruno overlapped down the right a few times, but never managed to find the killer ball. Andrea Orlandi looks like a fine player and his passing was, at times, sublime. His reverse through ball for Mackail-Smith's second goal was a thing of beauty. Ashley Barnes complemented Mackail-Smith well up front, using his brawn to offset the Scotland international's pace and trickery. All in all, they have a genuine chance of reaching the playoffs.

Leeds's performance

7/10. They had to withstand heavy pressure at times and had to work hard to stay in the game. Brighton should probably have been 3-0 up by half-time, but a soft penalty decision allowed them to go into the break level. El-Hadji Diouf was up for the scrap tonight and he was perhaps Leeds' biggest threat, while Michael Brown ran his socks off in midfield. It was his shot on goal that led to Leeds's equaliser, but it seemed to take a decisive touch off Luciano Becchio, which ultimately diverted it beyond Tomasz Kuszczak. Despite conceding a penalty, 19-year-old Samuel Byram gave a good showing down the right.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Craig Mackail-Smith: It was between him and Will Buckley, but the striker gets the nod having scored both of Brighton's goal. He could have been taking home the match ball but it wasn't to be.

Biggest gaffe

Ashley Barnes won't want to watch the tape on Monday to see just how easy his first-half chance was. He should have put his team 2-0 up but put the ball over from 10 yards out.

Referee's performance

There were three penalty decisions tonight and Lee Mason got two of them right. Both of Brighton's shouts were stone-walled claims, while Luke Varney seemed to go down easy under a challenge from Bruno. The defender did place his hand on Varney's shoulder, but there was very little force.

What's next?

Brighton: The Seagulls host struggling Peterborough United on Tuesday night.

Leeds: Neil Warnock's men make the trip to Burnley on the same night.