Brighton 5-0 Grimsby: The Seagulls advance to the semi-finals of the FA Cup with a comfortable win

Brighton is back in the hands of locals now, but something went wrong for a couple of hours on Sunday as the city fell to an invasion by Harry Haddocks.

Grimsby supporters went everywhere with their inflatable friends, the League Two club’s shop had sold 3,000 for the trip. They took them to the streets, they took over the pubs, they seized Brighton Pier, which was awash with black-and-white striped shirts.

Grimsby’s fans were determined to enjoy their day, knowing that this would likely mark the end of their FA Cup journey. It was when Brighton mercilessly stuck a pin in their Harry Haddocks, but visitors can look back with pride on their longest run in the competition since 1939.

Two goals from Evan Ferguson and the others from Deniz Undav, Solly March and Kaoru Mitoma secured Brighton’s victory, which went right to plan for the side 76 places up the league ladder.

They will now reach the semi-finals at Wembley after Roberto De Zerbi showed his intention with a no-nonsense starting line-up at the Amex Stadium.

Brighton secured their place in the FA Cup semi-finals with a comfortable win over Grimsby

Deniz Undav opened the scoring in the sixth minute after reacting quickly to a save

Brighton striker Evan Ferguson (right), 18, scored a brace in the second half

Grimsby manager Paul Hirst joked half an hour before kick-off that he feared Brighton had forgotten they were playing a side sitting in 15th place in the second division when he looked at the team sheet.

De Zerbi, who is serving a sideline suspension for this clash, chose a side of Premier League regulars. These included a guy who helped Lionel Messi win the 2022 World Cup and a guy who faced a £70m bid from Arsenal in the winter window.

But in a way that summed up the beauty of the FA Cup. Alexis Mac Allister may be world champion, but if he wanted to win here he had to defeat Gavan Holohan in midfield. Moises Caicedo may be a wanted man but to reach Wembley he had to beat Kieran Green.

Caicedo helped Brighton take the sixth-minute lead. His attempt from 20 yards was spilled by Grimsby goalkeeper Maxime Crocombe and Undav ran in for the rebound to make it 1-0.

“Que sara sara whatever will be will be we’re going to Wembley,” chanted Brighton’s supporters. To which the Grimsby contingent replied, “We only sing when we fish.”

After half an hour, Brighton had seen 75 percent of the ball. Grimsby looked very much like a second tier team trying to keep up with a Premier League side but were hoping for help in the 32nd minute.

A long ball had to be collected by Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez before Danilo Orsi got hold of it. Sanchez took it in his arms but Orsi claimed he was outside his box. Referee Jarred Gillett awaited word from VAR Michael Salisbury who ruled Sanchez was inside.

Brighton should have scored a second when Mitoma slid in from a Pascal Gross cross at the far post, but the hugely talented Japan international missed. Mitoma retaliated by playing a pass to Gross, but with the goal in hand, he also missed the target.

Brighton should have been out of reach at half-time but their lead remained slim. Grimsby had come closest to Sanchez’s goal when Lewis Dunk overplayed a back pass that had to be stopped before crawling over the line.

Otherwise, Grimsby had not attempted a shot, either on or off goal. They expected Brighton to eventually break their defense and they did just that in the 51st minute.

Seagulls boss Roberto De Zerbi again watched from the stands as he completed a sideline ban

Solly March continued his recent brilliant form for the Premier League side with a jump header

Mac Allister’s ball into the box was plucked out of the air by Ferguson. It was a beautiful takedown and the teenager then fired his shot past Crocombe to make it 2-0.

Brighton thought they had a third when March unselfishly squared the ball to Ferguson, but VAR banned him for offside, resulting in someone venting a party popper in the away game.

Then a rare chance for Grimsby. It was route one as substitute John McAtee broke through behind Adam Webster before attempting to dunk the ball over Sanchez, who freehanded it.

Brighton made it 3-0 in the 70th minute after some quick passes and lucky deflections which put Ferguson on target. Without hesitation, he found the lower corner.

In the 82nd minute it was 4:0. Brighton supporters chanted ‘Ole’ every time they passed the ball and at the end of an exquisite move a cross from Webster found March’s head.

In the 90th minute the 5-0 win was perfect. It wasn’t Mitoma’s cleanest shot as a deflection from Luke Waterfall fooled Crocombe, but they all count.

Home team fans applauded Grimsby’s players off the pitch at full-time. Their FA Cup run is over but De Zerbi could still end his impressive season in charge of Brighton with a trophy.

Kaoru Mitoma completed the route with a deflected shot in the final minute of play