Brighton and Hove Albion opened their preseason friendly with a 3-0 victory against AS Roma in Saturday.
It was a delightful day for the home fans at the AMEX Stadium as they also enjoyed the thrill of watching their team in the new season’s home kit.
Perhaps among the highlights of the day was the first glimpse of summer arrival Zadok Yohanna in his first game for the Seagulls.
The white-lettered number 36 beaming off the bright shade of blue Brighton fits appeared on the touchline an hour into the friendly, and with Fabian Hurzeler‘s side already 3nil up.
Yohanna was greeted by an ovation from the crowd as he sprinted on to the pitch for the final thirty minutes, to preserve the home team’s lead if they wouldn’t increase the tally.
Zadok making his debut for the Albion! 💙🤍 pic.twitter.com/SBec0f8unA
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) August 8, 2026
Speaking after the match, Hurzeler said:
’I was quite satisfied because, I think we want to show energy, intensity. We want to press high, we want to play football that excites us, the people and therefore I think we showed in the first half.
’… in the second half with the changes it is normal in a test game that the rhythm got a little bit stopped or broke up. But I was really happy that we scored goals, we kept a clean sheet, that we stick together as a team.
‘There were certain moments where we had to suffer a little bit. But, we overcome this and therefore I was happy.’
Nonetheless it was a bright cameo for the young Nigerian who cost Brighton an eye watering €28 million from AIK.
The 19 year-old forward put in a good shift, registering one shot on target, had a hundred percent successful dribble, 67% successful rate in his final third passes (2/3), 75% accurate passes (9/12), 25% progressive passes (1/4) from 21 touches.
On the defensive end, Yohanna must have also impressed the Brighton manager as he applied himself, winning 3 of his 7 ground duels, 1 from 1 in tackles and 1 recovery.
He showed sharpness and a burst of energy in his acceleration that saw him leave defenders for dead, but his decision making could use some refining.
Overall he earned a score of 6.5 for just thirty minutes of game time against I Giallorossi.
Brighton made him a prized target after only two seasons in Sweden and a return of two goals and two assists in 7 league appearances for AIK last term.
While he is expected to be on Brighton’s first team squad for the new season, Zadok Yohanna will ensure to improve on his finding and quickly adapt to the team’s style.
