Mooy stars as Brighton beat Bournemouth

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:17 am

Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Aaron Mooy both broke their goalscoring ducks for Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday as their side returned to winning ways with a 2-0 home victory over Bournemouth in the Premier League.

Jahanbakhsh, who was given his first start of the season, repaid Graham Potter's faith in the midfielder by scoring as early as the third minute with a fierce, low strike into the far corner.

"It's been a long time coming and I didn't make minutes, but I have been waiting for this time for a long time," Jahanbakhsh told the BBC. "Before the match I had a great feeling, because I'm playing well and I'm glad to help us win the game.

"Obviously it was an emotional moment for me, I had ups and downs last year, trying to settle. This season it felt good with the new manager."

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Bournemouth had a couple of chances to equalise in the first half, but Brighton defenders Dan Burn and Lewis Dunk were on hand to make last-ditch blocks as the home team went into the break 1-0 up.

Burn then thought he had also scored his first goal for his club when he put the ball in the back of the net during a scramble in the box. However, VAR disallowed the finish for a marginal offside when the set piece was taken.

Aaron Mooy scored Brighton's second of the day to seal victory over visitors Bournemouth.
Getty

Yves Bissouma nearly made it 2-0 to Brighton with a solo run from the centre circle into Bournemouth's box as defenders backed off, but the midfielder saw his low effort come back off the far post.

Mooy capped a man-of-the-match performance by doubling Brighton's lead in the 79th minute when he latched on to Leandro Trossard's pass and took two sublime touches to set himself up for a curling shot that beat goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.

The win, Brighton's first at home in four games, lifted them up to 13th in the table while Bournemouth remained in 16th -- two points above the relegation zone -- after their seventh loss in nine games to increase the pressure on boss Eddie Howe.

"No complaints about the result," he said. "I thought we took time to settle into the game. We were not at our best, we conceded an early goal.

"The second half was tough ... We were slow out of the traps. We conceded a goal, which gave us a mountain to climb, but we recovered and should have scored."

Meanwhile, Bournemouth captain Steve Cook told Sky: "Something has to change. Individuals have to step up, especially the leaders.

"It's not down to quality, but how brave enough people are going to be to want stay in this league. The lads who are fit have to pull something out of the bag. Injuries are a huge factor, but it's not an excuse.

"We were flat today and poor. Maybe we don't realise what's at stake -- we have to show our nasty side, grind out results."