Brighton and Hove Albion have needed a goalscoring midfielder ever since gaining promotion to the Premier League in 2017. Now they have one in the shape of the South Coast Messi.
Alex Mac Allister’s two goals in Brighton’s 3-2 win at Everton on Sunday highlighted the ability of the Argentinian, who has a fair amount in common with his legendary compatriot and international colleague.
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He has the same shirt number, No 10, worn by Lionel Messi for most of his career. He’s also a bit of a doppelganger for the former Barcelona superstar with the magic feet.
Messi has always been an automatic pick wherever he’s played, such is the scale of his talent. That hasn’t been the way of it for Mac Allister at the Amex Stadium.
He’s made the same number of top-flight substitute appearances (22) as starts (22) since an £8 million move from Argentinos Juniors in the January 2019 transfer window.
Mac Allister was loaned back to Argentinos, then to his boyhood idols Boca Juniors, before making his Brighton debut at Wolves in March 2020, the final fixture before COVID-19 led to a Premier League lockdown for 15 weeks.
He’s been unfortunate that his period at the club has coincided with the disruptive pandemic but, after a few false starts, this could be his big breakthrough.
Mac Allister has scored four goals in 14 Premier League outings this season compared to one in 30 appearances across the previous two campaigns.
Head coach Graham Potter has turned to him in the last three matches in succession. They have yielded a 2-0 home win over Brentford, a 1-1 draw at Chelsea and a first-ever victory at Goodison Park.
Within those three games in which Brighton have claimed seven points and eased the frustration of a run of 11 matches without a league win, Mac Allister has produced two sparkling goals, the corner which led to Dan Burn doubling the lead at Everton on Sunday, and a series of impressive performances as an attack-minded midfielder.
It’s just as well that Potter’s instinct persuaded him to retain Mac Allister in the starting line-up when he was tempted to leave him out again because of the hectic schedule.
“He’s been working away,” Potter tells The Athletic. “Sometimes you have to select players and not select players who can play and should play.
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“You can only pick 11 and Alexis has had to wait and be patient. He’s done that. He’s contributed from the bench, he’s been an important team player for us, and now he’s starting.
“He’s in a good moment. We were still thinking before the game, ‘Can he go again?’ but he’s in a really good place. Confidence is high and when you are in that moment, it’s nice to keep going.”
Both of Mac Allister’s goals were gems, applying the finish to fluent build-ups.
He ghosted into the box to volley Neal Maupay’s header from Joel Veltman’s cross past Jordan Pickford from six yards just two minutes and 43 seconds into the contest, Brighton’s fastest ever away goal in the Premier League.
Mac Allister, aside from his other attributes, is a specialist at set pieces. He’s often played second fiddle to Pascal Gross in that regard but the German’s level of participation is waning.
Mac Allister’s corner was flicked on by Enock Mwepu for Burn to increase Brighton’s advantage inside the first quarter of the match, and then his second goal of the game, which restored a two-goal cushion for Brighton in the 71st minute, was a special strike.
Leandro Trossard’s cross was backheeled by Mwepu into his path. Mac Allister arrowed an unstoppable right-foot drive beyond England No 1 Pickford into the roof of the net from 20 yards.
Mac Allister only turned 23 on Christmas Eve, so there’s a lot more to come from him. Five goals is a creditable return from 44 Premier League appearances overall for Brighton, considering so many of them have been bit-part roles from the bench.
Of course, he’ll never get near to Messi’s prodigious feats but he is capable of chipping in with goals that have been lacking from midfield areas for Brighton, operating as a No 8 or a No 10, or drifting in centrally from the left.
Potter said: “He’s got the quality. You can see that. He can contribute to the scoring phase for us, for sure. So can Enock, so can Jakub (Moder).
“That’s something we’re trying to improve because it’s too easy to blame the strikers if we don’t score. It was positive because we got goals from midfield and a goal from a set play, which is good for us.”
It was the third time Brighton have scored three goals in an away win under Potter. His first match in charge, a 3-0 victory at Watford in August 2019, set a high bar.
The result was the same at Newcastle 13 months later, yet it wasn’t quite as comfortable as that against Everton. Anthony Gordon dragged them back into contention twice after the returning Dominic Calvert-Lewin blasted a first-half penalty over the crossbar.
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The first of those goals contained a considerable slice of fortune, Gordon’s shot taking a big deflection off the foot of Adam Lallana.
Potter withdrew Lallana and Joel Veltman after an hour as they both averted a booking which would have suspended them for the visit of traditional rivals Crystal Palace on January 14, the next league game following Saturday’s FA Cup diversion away to Championship side West Brom.
Maupay, who played the whole match, also avoided a fifth booking and consequential ban against Palace.
The Frenchman pounced deep into injury time in the draw at Selhurst Park in September. Palace won’t need reminding either that Mac Allister struck sweetly and late as well to snatch a 1-1 draw in the corresponding fixture last season.
It’s taken a while for him to make his mark on the Premier League but Messi’s lookalike is really beginning to flourish.
(Top photo: Chris Brunskill/Getty Images)