Inside Elland Road: Brenden Aaronson praise
Fabian Hürzeler's side ran out 3-0 winners over Leeds United on Saturday.
Fabian Hürzeler said Leeds United's strengths meant his Brighton side knew they could not let up once they took control in a 3-0 win.
Danny Welbeck's opener was followed by a Diego Gomez brace with Leeds second best both defensively and offensively at The Amex.
For Brighton it was the first time they have shut out Premier League opposition this season. "Very delighted with the clean sheet," said Hürzeler. "It was the first of the season and a very important one. Everyone needs to understand what it needs, what we need to invest for a clean sheet. We all have to do a job to keep it. It was very important to have it today."
When asked to pinpoint the difference between the two sides he elected to focus on what his players did, but said Leeds' strengths meant they knew they had to keep going for the kill once ahead.
"I can only focus on my team," he said. "I thought we started well, showed a good intensity. We played with a lot of courage, created chances in possession and pressing. We covered a lot of phases. When we suffered we stayed together and had good compactness. We scored the goals in the right moment. We also know we have to keep pushing because they're a really good team, they have good physicality, they run a lot and we needed to be ready for that."
Brighton boss on ex-Leeds United man Georginio Rutter and Daniel Farke disagreement
Former Leeds man Georginio Rutter was central to the victory for Brighton, playing a particularly impactful role in the second half when he attacked with menace and set up a goal.
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"It's important you can play really well without scoring goals," said his boss. "You get rewards from the media and fans when you score but he gets rewards [from me] when he works hard for the team and has a big impact on creating chances. Being an impact in our offensive play. That was a fact today. He worked well defensively, he had impact so I was happy."
With the game won at 3-0 there was a minor flashpoint when Ethan Ampadu lunged into a late challenge on Gomez, who was running into space after beating the Leeds captain. Hürzeler and his Leeds counterpart Daniel Farke exchanged words as they disagreed over the challenge, but the Brighton boss admits he still needs to adjust to Premier League physicality and officiating.
"I said that in Germany it might be a red card," he said. "Sometimes I need to adapt to how we judge fouls here. In Germany it might be different. These are emotions of the game, that's part of it. I have a huge respect for [Farke], how he's working, how he progresses his team. It's impressive what he's doing. It was a short discussion, nothing bad."
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