It was a battle of the beaches at the AmEx on Friday night as Brighton welcomed the boys from the east coast of Spain to the south coast of England. Valencia were in town to up their pre-season preparations while Brighton wrapped up their warm-up campaign ahead of the 2019/20 Premier League season kick off this weekend.
The Seagulls came from behind in front of a healthy home crowd to beat their Spanish guests 2-1 as attentions turned to their season opener at Watford this weekend. Granted, Valencia are a few weeks behind Brighton in terms of pre-season, but it was still a strong, confidence boosting victory against esteemed opposition. A weekend on the beach, a Football Manager-styled Champions League fixture, and a bunch of Spaniards trying to figure out what a Glenn Murray is and how to stop it. All in all an easy choice for our next 'Framed' episode.
They certainly don't defend against strikers like Murray down in Espanyol every week, and the big man was too much to handle as he was brought down in the penalty box 10 minutes after Rodrigo had given Valencia the lead. 35 year-old Murray dispatched the spot kick himself to bring Brighton level at half time, and it remained that way until the final minutes when Shane Duffy's towering header flew past Domenech to give the home side a 2-1 win. An intense workout for both sides and another step closer to the real thing as the Premier League kicks off this weekend, followed by the return of La Liga the weekend after.
Photography by Kyle Hemsley for SoccerBible.
