Brighton were merciless in the first round of the 2023-24 Premier League season. Roberto de Zerbi’s side destroyed the newly-promoted Luton Town with a 4-1 victory at The Amex on Saturday. João Pedro started for the hosts in his first official game at the club and scored the second goal of the game from the penalty spot.
The Brazilian was fouled in the box when he attempted to get past the defense, and took the spot-kick after the referee blew the whistle. Thomas Kaminski guessed the direction of the shot, diving to the left post, but he couldn’t save it. Pedro left the field 17 minutes later for Julio Enciso.
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Pedro praised by the British press
BBC Sport praised Pedro’s performance, suggesting he could prove to be a great signing for Brighton: “Brighton have built their success since earning promotion in 2017 on superb recruitment, allowing them to seamlessly replace those they sell, and the contributions made by Pedro and Adingra indicated the club may have struck gold again. Pedro made a wasteful start but threatened regularly in the second half before deservedly getting his goal when he scored a soft penalty that was awarded to him after Lockyer put his arm across the Brazilian in the box.”
Pedro, 21, joined Brighton from Watford this summer for a reported fee of nearly £30 million, which makes him the most expensive signing in club history.
“I think we played well,” de Zerbi said. “We are not at our best yet because there are new players and we need to give them time to understand our ideas, but I am happy.”
