Evan Ferguson’s brace saw Brighton clinch a 5-0 victory over League Two’s Grimsby Town in Quarter-Finals of 2022-23 FA Cup.
Second-half goals from Ferguson in the 51st and 70th minute saw Brighton comfortably avoid a cupset against their League Two minnows.
Undav earlier opened the scoring with a sixth-minute rebound strike after Moises Caicedo’s shot was blocked by Grimsby goalkeeper, Max Crocombe.
Solly March and Kaoru Mitoma completed victory with late goals.
Brighton will now make their first semi-final appearance since reaching the last four in 2018-19 season, whilst Grimsby’s dreams of a first FA Cup semi-final since 1938-39 campaign continues to wait for another year.
Currently sat three tiers above Grimsby in the football pyramid, Brighton made their quality and experience count quickly with early control of the match but struggled to create many opportunities.
Their first chance eventually fell in the sixth minute as Moises Caicedo unleashed a long-range strike which Crocombe could only parry away to Undav, who calmly smashed in on the rebound to put the Seagulls ahead.
Grimsby however refused to cave in to their higher-quality opposition as they frustrated Brighton with a compact defence, which forced the hosts to be creative in order to get the ball into the Mariners’ box.
That pressure almost told in the 22nd minute as Solly March almost met Mitoma’s low cross, yet was fouled by Niall Maher, yet Video Assistant Referee (VAR) refused to award a penalty kick for the incident.
Undav then saw a chance to double Brighton’s lead denied in the 25th minute as his header from March’s cross was saved by Crocombe.
Mitoma then flicked Undav’s 33rd minute cross just over the top-left corner from close-range, before volleying over the bar five minutes later as the Seagulls struggled to finish their chances despite dominating the ball throughout the first half.
Gross meanwhile rifled Mitoma’s pullback cross over the bar just four minutes from half-time as Grimsby rode their luck defensively, yet managed to keep their deficit to just the one goal at the break.
After half-time, their luck initially didn’t seem to improve as March’s 48th minute cross was deflected and left bouncing, yet Undav could only fire over the bar.
Brighton though were able to force a two-goal lead three minutes later as Mac Allister played a short curled cross into the box, which Ferguson flicked down on the turn onto his right foot and rifled across into the near corner to dampen Grimsby’s cupset dreams.
Mitoma who had wasted several first-half chances meanwhile still couldn’t find the final touch as he curled wide across goal in the 55th minute.
Ferguson one minute later saw his second goal ruled offside after March’s right foot was offside in the build-up, as he met Undav’s through ball and teed up Ferguson with a short flicked pass into the box.
Grimsby fans meanwhile began to get rowdy with rolled-up programmes and other objects hurled onto the pitch, which led referee – Jarred Gillett to ask match officials to try and prevent further repeat offences.
Brighton however continued their dominance but were unlucky to not win a 66th minute penalty, after Mitoma cut into the box only to be fouled by Michael Efete but VAR once again refused to award a penalty to the Seagulls.
Ferguson though ensured that their latest penalty denial proved harmless as he picked up Undav’s short 70th minute pass and calmly rifled into the near-left corner unmarked to secure Brighton’s passage to the semi-finals.
March added further misery to Grimsby’s nightmare end of their fairytale FA Cup run as he nodded in from Adam Webster’s 82nd minute cross towards the left post.
Brighton’s Robert Sanchez meanwhile was alert to ensure a clean sheet with a punched clearance of John McAtee’s 85th minute shot.
Mitoma completed victory in the 90th minute after he pounced upon Gross’ flicked pass and curled low into the left corner, albeit via deflection of Luke Waterfall’s touch.
Roberto De Zerbi’s Seagulls will now face Manchester United or Fulham in the semi-finals, whilst Manchester City face Sheffield United after the Blades beat Blackburn 3-2 in a dramatic tie.
What’s Next?
Brighton host Brentford in a blockbuster Premier League clash in the race for European qualification on Saturday 1 April in a 3pm BST kick-off.
Grimsby visit Play-Off chasing Mansfield Town in a rearranged League 2 match on Wednesday 22 March at 7:45pm GMT.
Teams
Brighton: Robert Sanchez, Pascal Gross, Lewis Dunk (van Hecke 78′), Adam Webster, Pervis Estupinan (Colwill 45′), Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister (Ayari 78′), Solly March, Deniz Undav (Sarmiento 71′), Kaoru Mitoma, Evan Ferguson (Welbeck 72′)
Substitutes: Levi Colwill, Danny Welbeck, Jeremy Sarmiento, Julio Enciso, Jason Steele, Yasin Ayari, Jon Paul van Hecke, Joel Veltman, Facundo Buonanotte
Grimsby: Max Crocombe, Andy Smith, Luke Waterfall, Niall Maher, Michael Efete, Gavan Holohan (Khouri 84′), Kieran Green (McAtee 45′), Anthony Driscoll-Glennon, Harry Clifton (Morris 71′), Danilo Orsi (Hunt 45′), Otis Khan (Taylor 71′)
Substitutes: Shaun Pearson, Josh Emmanuel, John McAtee, Ollie Battersby, Alex Hunt, Bryn Morris, Danny Amos, Ryan Taylor, Evan Khouri
Referee: Jarred Gillett
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