Brighton threw away three points at Fulham thanks to a late freekick from Harry Wilson.
Albion opened the scoring on 28 minutes from Sweden international Yasin Ayari. The midfielder cut in from the left flank and let fly from 25 yards, which proved too powerful for home goalkeeper Bernd Leno. The keeper should have done better.
Albion were the dominant team but the hosts pulled one back as substitute Samuel Chukwueze latched on to Timothy Castagne’s perfectly weighted long ball. Chukwueze chopped on to his left foot and finished well beyond Bart Verbruggen.
Two minutes later and Brighton thought they made it 2-1 but Welbeck’s strike was ruled out by VAR for the tightest offside call. It wasn’t Welbeck’s day as Leno then produced an excellent save to tip Welbeck’s header over the bar.
It got a whole lot worse for Albion and it’s a moment Verbruggen will want to forget. Wilson arrowed in a freekick from 30 yards and the keeper had a hand on it but could not prevent it going in. Substitute Charalampos Kostoulas may also regret giving away a cheap freekick.
Here’s how they rated...
5. Olivier Boscagli - 6
Played on the left of the defence and was solid against Fulham's danger man Wilson. The first goal came down his side but difficult to blame him for that one. | Getty Images
6. Carlos Baleba - 8
Much better. He looks a new man after the Afcon and will be key for Brighton in the second half of the season. Energy, power and discipline... where has this man been? | Getty Images
7. Yasin Ayari - 7
A lovely angled strike to open the scoring from 20 yards. Tireless workrate but still not quite tidy enough on the ball in midfield | Getty Images
8. Pascal Gross - 6
Adds a reliability and consistency to the midfield that was previously lacking. An excellent January addition. | Getty Images