Alexis Mac Allister admitted that he was living the dream after two second-half goals from Brighton & Hove Albion’s World Cup winner suggested that he is easing nicely back into the day job.
The Argentina midfielder helped to give Middlesbrough a sobering lesson about the standards that they must reach to achieve their aim of a Premier League return as Roberto De Zerbi’s side progressed effortlessly into the fourth round.
The scoreline was perhaps a little harsh on the home side, who conceded twice in the final ten minutes, by which stage they were dead on their feet having been pulled from pillar to post and back again by some wonderfully fluid football.
“I’m living the dream right now,” Mac Allister said afterwards. “To be honest, I’ve been so keen to come back because I wanted to train to play and to share my winner’s medal with everyone at the club. I feel happy to be at Brighton and I’ll continue to give my all.”
De Zerbi, who revealed that the unsettled forward Leandro Trossard was absent with a calf problem, dedicated the result to his compatriot Gianluca Vialli, the former Chelsea and Italy striker, who died on Friday. He added: “We showed a lot of quality and sustained that for 90 minutes.
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“The way Alexis has come back from the World Cup and performed well is not a surprise,” the Brighton head coach added. “He’s a top player and I knew that before the World Cup. I’m not sure if he’s come back from Qatar with extra confidence, but he’s certainly stronger mentally.”
Brighton had shown a worrying level of vulnerability against lower division sides in last month’s Carabao Cup exit to Charlton, and to their credit Boro made a contest of it for the first 45 minutes.
But Michael Carrick’s side, who have been in good form in the Championship with six wins in their past seven league games, were soon chasing shadows after Mac Allister’s introduction for the second-half. They could have few complaints after suffering a first home defeat in three months, one rounded off by the substitute Deniz Undav’s angled drive into the bottom corner with two minutes remaining to seal a place in today’s fourth-round draw.
De Zerbi’s side are the Premier League’s top scorers on the road this season, and had the luxury of being able to wait until the interval before introducing Mac Allister, by which time they had restored the lead given to them after eight minutes, Pascal Gross following up to score for the seventh time this season after Zack Steffen had saved from Solly March.
Middlesbrough levelled five minutes later when Jason Steele made a mess of a low header from Chuba Akpom, replays suggesting that the forward’s claims to a 14th goal of the season might be denied on review as the ball appeared to find the net via a post and the knee of Steele, the former Middlesbrough goalkeeper.
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Adam Lallana claimed Brighton’s second in the 29th minute, chesting home a Kaoru Mitoma shot that bounced over Steffen to present the veteran midfielder with a simple finish for his third goal of the campaign and last significant contribution before being replaced by Mac Allister — who scored his side’s contest-ending third goal just before the hour with a deft flick from a searching Pervis Estupiñán cross.
A seventh goal of the season soon followed on his second appearance post-Qatar when the South American calmly side-footed home a low Gross centre from six yards. “They’re a quality side,” Carrick reflected. “We did well for long spells but towards the end they made us suffer.”
