Almost nothing seems impossible after this. Maybe West Brom really will escape relegation despite still being far from safety. A match featuring two missed penalties by Brighton and one monumental farce triggered by the referee proved yet again that many strange things happen in football. One thing that is certain is Brighton are in a serious fight for Premier League survival, and they need to sharpen their finishing. Brighton were already trailing to Kyle Bartley’s close-range header when the match lapsed into absurdity just before the half-hour, when Lewis Dunk thought he had struck an equaliser for the visitors, only for his supposed goal to be disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed again. The referee, Lee Mason, appeared to be as confused as the players during a three-minute period in which the teams took turns to argue with the official, who ultimately needed assistance from VAR to explain what he had done. It transpired that Mason had blown his whistle to indicate that Brighton could take the free-kick, which Dunk duly did from just outside the D. But then, as the ball travelled towards the net, the referee blew again after realising that West Brom’s goalkeeper, Sam Johnstone, had not been ready to face the shot. Because the second blow came before the ball crossed the line, the goal could not stand. VAR adjudicated on the timing while players from both sides surrounded the referee. Dunk later described the verdict as “horrendous”. Potter was more diplomatic. “We’ll get a report and I’m sure they’ll explain exactly what [happened],” said Potter. “I don’t think the referee has meant to do anything, if he’s made a mistake, that can happen. If the right decision has been made [by VAR], we accept it, but I’d like a bit more understanding of the process of the two whistles.” Poor Mason looked in need of a good rest as he made his way off the pitch at half-time, with players and staff from both clubs still demanding clarification. For once it was probably a good thing that no fans were in attendance. It has been a chastening month for Mason, who was stood down earlier in February after being the VAR official when West Ham’s Tomas Soucek and Southampton’s Jan Bednarek received red cards that were rescinded on appeal. The free-kick fiasco was not the first contentious decision in the match, as an earlier intervention by VAR led to Brighton being awarded a penalty for a handball by Okay Yokuslu. West Brom got lucky that time as well, as Pascal Gross fired the spot-kick against the crossbar. If the officiating was bad so was much of the play. Brighton’s weakness in defending set pieces was obvious from the start, with West Brom tormenting them from corners and long throw-ins. It was no surprise when Bartley rose unchallenged to guide a header into the net from a corner in the 11th minute. Brighton dominated after that but suffered from familiar finishing problems. The penalty misses were the most glaring but Brighton wasted many other chances, notably during the stoppage time added on to the first half to compensate for the time spent exploring the mystery of Dunk’s disallowed goal. Aaron Connolly had a decent shot across goal turned away by Johnstone, then Neal Maupay scuffed an effort wide from close range. Robert Sánchez made an excellent stop to prevent Ainsley Maitland-Niles making it 2-0 to the hosts before Johnstone denied Maupay again. Brighton continued their patient, pretty buildups in the second half but their impotence in front of goal persisted. When Conor Townsend chopped down Gross in the box in the 75th minute, it seemed implausible that Brighton would miss another spot-kick. Danny Welbeck, on as a substitute, stepped up and kept his shot down but steered it on to a post. West Brom could barely believe their luck. They, or Fulham, might just clamber out of relegation trouble after all. Possibly at Brighton’s expense. “You need a bit of luck to succeed anywhere in life,” declared Sam Allardyce.