Brighton manager Chris Hughton has said he felt the defeat to Manchester United had been incredibly harsh given the efforts of the players.
With Jose Mourinho describing Brighton as ‘very good’ immediately post game and admitting the side left Old Trafford without the result they deserved, Hughton was more than singing from the same hymnsheet talking about his pride in the squad for the way they took the game to United.
Speaking to the Official Site as he met with the media post game, Hughton explained.
‘I certainly feel that we didn`t deserve to lose. It was almost one of those games that was going to take that little bit of brilliance or fortune – and, of course, they got the fortune with the deflected goal. I thought we were worthy of at least a draw today. Our play was good and we restricted them to minimal chances.’
He added.
‘We needed Maty Ryan to make two really good saves for us – but apart from that, I can`t think of a clear opportunity they had in the 90 minutes. In a tight affair, we were very good value and I`m really disappointed not to come away with anything.’
With the hosts maintaining their unbeaten record this season at home, Hughton was also delighted with how we took the game to them and showed no fear.
‘The fact that we came here to a top-six team – a team that have the quality that Manchester United have – and we had the confidence to play, is very pleasing. We got into some really good positions, but what United did show is that they`re physically strong and they can defend very well. You have to play on the break a little bit, but I thought we were very brave on the ball and there were a lot of good performances today.’
Having praised the way the side attacked and went forward, he also had praise for the way they defended and tracked back to compete an overall performance on the day as we restricted them to only four shots on target, and of course their winner came from a deflection.
‘I expected Manchester United to have more chances against us, but you have to give us credit for that because we defended well as a team. If you defend well as a team – what you can try and do is restrict the quality players getting into areas where they can hurt you. We had to work really hard at that – but a Manchester United side, on more occasions than not, will open up teams and show their quality.’
Adding.
‘Certainly with Pogba back, they`re a team that have a good balance between quality on the ball and physicality. By the time their substitutes were on, they were a very big side. What they`re able to do, and what they did on Saturday, is change a game. They`ve got a lot of quality in the side and that`s what Manchester United side`s always have.’
He obviously went on to say that the United performance was our best in the three games against the top six so far this season.
‘Even though in both of those games (Manchester City and Arsenal) we lost 2-0, I was pleased with more than what I was unhappy with. But out of the three, this was the best one. We`ve gone another step forward and particularly having come here, away from home. We defended well, blocking holes, and made our way into really good areas. Scoring at the end of it would have been everything, but it`s very difficult to have everything. For a club like ours, coming here, to have that perfect performance, it`s very difficult. If we were able to finish off a couple of our chances, then that would have been a perfect performance.’
With both Glenn Murray and Shane Duffy now one card away from an automatic suspension for yellow cards, Hughton wasn’t going to blame them for being committed.
‘What you don’t want to do is take that competitiveness out of their game, but with that comes the risk of bookings and suspensions. You don`t want the silly ones for dissent – but if it`s about competing and making challenges, then you accept it may happen.’
