Fabian Hurzeler's Brighton & Hove Albion beat Manchester United 2-1 at Old Trafford to advance to the fourth round of the FA Cup
Brighton and Hove Albion head coach Fabian Hurzeler oversaw his side's 2-1 victory over Manchester United on Sunday
Brighton and Hove Albion head coach Fabian Hurzeler oversaw his side's 2-1 victory over Manchester United on Sunday(Image: TNT Sports)
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Brighton and Hove Albion manager Fabian Hurzeler has praised his team's defence for dealing with Manchester United's dangerous long ball approach during their 2-1 FA Cup win at Old Trafford. The pressure was on the Reds to advance to the fourth round after losing to Grimsby Town in the second round of the Carabao Cup back in August.
However, they fell at the first hurdle of a domestic cup competition once again on Sunday. Brajan Gruda gave the Seagulls the lead on 12 minutes despite Lisandro Martinez's goalline clearance moments before. This advantage was doubled in the second half thanks to an impressive Danny Welbeck strike.
United gave themselves hope late on thanks to Benjamin Sesko's fifth goal for the club. But it was too little too late with Shea Lacey's second yellow card capping a disappointing afternoon for the Reds. Speaking to TNT Sports post-match, Hurzeler praised his side for dealing with the threat of Darren Fletcher's side.
He said: "I’m very proud because I think we had a tough start, we made a lot of changes so they needed a little time to get used to each other but then we started playing football after five or ten minutes which helped us a lot. We controlled the game better, we created chances, we scored a nice goal and I think we had a big chance to score a second goal.
"They were always dangerous with deep runs around our back - we weren’t great defending this in the first half, in the second half we did it better and overall I was very pleased with the performance.
"At this place, it is not easy when you concede a goal at this time and then the crowd starts getting loud but I think we always had the belief, we had the players on the pitch who organised, stayed calm and find the right solutions and in the end they deserved to win."
Hurzeler was asked whether the situation at United and their previous results at Old Trafford gave them more belief of winning this weekend, but the German admitted the confidence in his side was not specific to playing United.
"We always have to believe to compete with the best teams, you need to have this if you want to achieve something," he concluded.
"We are a club, and this is what our owner tries to emphasise, we are a club with ambitions and therefore you need to have to believe and you need to have the self confidence to achieve something, and that is what we try to do."
Manchester United players at the final whistle after losing to Brighton in the FA Cup
Manchester United players at the final whistle after losing to Brighton in the FA Cup(Image: Martin Rickett/PA Wire)
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Defeat for the Reds makes the Premier League the only remaining competition for United this season.
Having failed to qualify for European football and now having being knocked out of both domestic cup competitions, United are realistically going to end the season with no silverware again. The primary objective now will be to finish in the top five at least to be back at Europe's top table next season.
The top four automatically qualify for the Champions League but England could earn an extra space, awarded to fifth in the Premier League, depending on their UEFA co-efficient ranking at the end of the season. England's co-efficient ranking depends entirely on how clubs in the Premier League perform in all three European competitions.
Next up for United is arguably their most important fixture of the season when they host Manchester City on Saturday lunchtime. Victory over their nearest rivals would see the Reds provisionally move up to fourth in the Premier League table.