Manager Chris Hughton has explained that he didn’t believe Brighton deserved to lose last night’s encounter with Newcastle United.
Hosting Rafa Benitez’s side at the Amex Stadium for the top of the table clash, Brighton took the lead in the game through Glenn Murray’s early penalty and we had opportunities to double the advantage, but the visitors got a huge slice of luck with Mohamed Diame’s leveller and then a last minute winner from Ayoze Perez gave them all three points.
A hugely disappointed Hughton told the Official Site in his post game press conference that he felt very hard done by when it came to the final result.
‘We know the quality that they`ve got and I think that showed with their second goal. Up until the equaliser, I thought we`d worked out the way that they play and coped with it very well. They threatened because of the quality that they`ve got, but I generally felt that we would hold out. It`s a really fortuitous goal that gets them back into the game.’
Hughton went on to add.
‘At that stage they`re in the ascendency, but I have to say it`s a quality goal that gets them the winner. It`s difficult to take because I felt we were very much in the game, although not at our best today. I still don`t think we deserved to lose.’
With plenty of opportunities following Murray’s opening goal, that was another frustration for the manager as he knows that had we got the second it might have killed the game off.
‘He`s (Clark) certainly got his arms around Glenn and the referee`s in a very good position. That got us off to a good start, but we weren`t able to maintain it. We started very well and had good opportunities. Anthony Knockaert threatened and went very close on another one, but you can`t keep those levels going for 90 minutes against their quality.’
Adding.
‘When you see the quality of the changes that they`re making and the quality they`ve got on the pitch, it`s then about securing what you’ve got. It was that one piece of real quality that undone us in the end, which makes it feel like a hard night.’
We can of course return to the top of the Championship table by taking victory over Nottingham Forest on Saturday as Newcastle have the late kic off, so the title battle is certainly not over because of the result, it’s just disappointing at this stage as the three points could have gone on Brighton’s tally which a touch more luck.
‘You have to pick yourselves up in this division because the games come thick and fast. We`ve got another game on Saturday, as do Newcastle. This league is unforgiving and you soon have to turn things around. We`re up there for a reason. We were very close today and the players have been excellent for us. They need to pick themselves up, go again on Saturday and keep getting results.’
