BRIGHTON, England (Reuters) – Brighton & Hove Albion’s new manager Fabian Huerzeler said he was proud of his team’s never-say-die display after they beat Manchester United 2-1 on Saturday with a winning goal in stoppage time.
Brighton came into their first Premier League home game of the season as the table toppers and almost found themselves 2-1 down before United had their second goal chalked off for offside.
With a draw on the cards in the pouring rain at the Amex, Joao Pedro scored in the fifth minute of added time to give the south-coast club all three points as the 31-year-old Huerzeler celebrated fervently in the dugout to get the crowd roaring.
“It was very emotional, always when you get the win in the last minute, it is. I think we deserved to win, we had a good game not a perfect game. There were also situations where United had the chance to win the game,” Huerzeler told the BBC.
“I’m very proud of the team, they showed the value of never giving up and that’s very important to me.
“I think the first half was equal and then in the second half we started to control the game quite well. We had a lot of chances, especially in the second half.”
Brighton looked in control until United scored the equaliser through Amad Diallo, after which Erik ten Hag’s side controlled proceedings.
But Huerzeler made proactive changes with Simon Adingra coming on late and providing the assist for the game-winning goal less than five minutes later as Brighton stayed top with six points.
“Their goal, for me, was from out of nowhere. I then didn’t like the losing the control. After their offside goal I think we started to control the game again. In the end, I think we deserved to win,” Huerzeler added.
“I think Joao is a player who can decide the game with one action. For me it was impressive today how he worked against the ball. He had the belief he would score and that’s something that makes him special.
“But in the end it’s always a team win and that’s most important.”
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
Source Agencies
