Not for the first time in the last twelve months, **Brighton**blew a lead late in the day, as **Fulham**walked away with a point from the south coast. It is an outcome that hindered their objectives last term, and two men in the Seagulls' camp discussed their thoughts about this Premier League opener.
‘The patience was key’
Despite the draw, Hurzeler highlighted aspects of the performance that made him happy on the day.
“It feels painful, but I think it's very important to take the positive things away. We played really good game. We defended really good. I think there was not a clear chance for Fulham in the whole game.”
The German gave the impression that patience paved the way towards their success after the break.
*“Not a lot changed. I think we controlled them in the first half. There was not lot of chance to create, but **Fulham*is always a very organized team and well disciplined. So, we have to be patient and I think the patience was the key like we showed in the second half and then we created chances.”
Matt O'Riley rippled the back of the net with a penalty, and chances continued to come for Brighton.
**Bernd Leno**spilled a drilled shot from Diego Gomez before the midfielder slightly overhit a pass on a counter to Brajan Gruda, who split the difference between the goal and a pass to Danny Welbeck.
“We created chances in the second half. We could score. We should score the second goal. I think then the game would be over. But yeah, that is just football. We have to accept it. This is painful. The feeling is not great, but we have to take the positive things away and focus on these things.”
Rodrigo Muniz came on to score at the back post from a corner deep into injury time. The Cottagers were throwing everything at the hosts at this point, so the manager refrained from being too critical.
“It's difficult to say because the last corner they come with all their players. Overall, I think it's more about to avoid the corner. That was the main thing. The ball is deflected so it's not easy to defend.”
He is holding onto what the team have done well before they prepare to travel to **Everton**next week.
“That's football. Sometimes they have the player in the right moment, the right place and they scored and we could not defend it. Like I said before, we have to accept it. We take away the positive things.”
‘We need to get a little more ruthless’
O'Riley responded similarly when asked about his thoughts on the latest showing from the Seagulls.
“I thought we were the better team for majority of the game. We had to weather a little bit of a storm second half, but I thought we managed that well and defended really well throughout the game. So to concede as late as we did is naturally very disappointing, but lots of things to learn on, learn from.
The Danish international offered some insight into how he prepared for the successful penalty effort.
“I had my routine from training that I practiced, and in that moment, it's just about executing.”
Joao Pedro has gone to **Chelsea**and is making a mark. But Kaoru Mitoma, Yankuba Minteh, Georginio Rutter, and others are still around. The name of the game is being better in the boxes.
“We just need to get a little bit more ruthless in front of goal as well. Every team's got enough quality to punish you if you're not ruthless in all aspects of the game. A lot for us to reflect on and learn on.”
The Seagulls showed some serious naivety last season with a squad in constant transition under the youngest manager in the English top tier. If they want to do better than eighth place, then they must learn how to hold onto leads and lock down matches that are going in their favour more consistently.
“We found that out a few times in the past and like you said, every Premier League team is good in their own way and poses a different challenge. You have to be at your best every single game and I don't think we were at our very best. However, I thought we were good enough to win the game.”