FA Cup: Middlesbrough 1-5 Brighton: Alexis Mac Allister scores twice

Alexis Mac Allister scored twice, including a sublime flicked finish, as the World Cup winner helped Brighton beat Middlesbrough in the FA Cup.

Pascal Gross put the Premier League side ahead early on but Chuba Akpom quickly replied with a towering header.

Adam Lallana scored from close range to make it 2-1 before Deniz Undav added to Mac Allister’s goals late on.

Hosts Middlesbrough reached the quarter-finals last season but were thoroughly outplayed as Brighton progressed into the fourth round.

Brilliant Brighton and marvelous Mac Allister

Brighton lost manager Graham Potter to Chelsea earlier in the season but continue to impress under new boss Roberto de Zerbi, sitting eighth in the Premier League and cruising into the next round of the cup.

The Seagulls were stunned by Charlton on penalties in the Carabao Cup but that has proved to be a rare off day and they showed their top-flight class by dominating Michael Carrick’s Championship team.

The south coast side play easy-on-the-eye football and are stacked with talented individuals who all come together as one unit.

Gross put Brighton ahead after just seven minutes, slotting home after Solly March’s effort was saved by Zac Steffen, but the in-form Akpom leveled shortly after, heading in for his 14th goal of a fruitful campaign.

Brighton, though, exerted their supremacy in the contest thereafter and Lallana pinched a goal from the impressive Kaoru Mitoma by nudging the ball over the line when the Japan forward’s effort was already going in.

In second-half substitute Mac Allister they possess a player who claimed the biggest prize in world football last month and who is unsurprisingly full of confidence.

He could have had a hat-trick in his 45 minutes on the pitch, an instinctive Cruyff-style finish for his first goal showcasing his excellent form, technique and flair.

Mac Allister smacked the post with a curling free-kick but got his second by finishing off a slick team move from Gross’s cutback.

There was still time to Undav to come off the bench and drill a low finish into the bottom as Brighton secured a comfortable passage to the fourth round.