Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris during his side's home defeat to Brighton (Image: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)
Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris during his side's home defeat to Brighton (Image: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)
REGIS LE BRIS admits his Sunderland side let themselves down in key situations as they suffered a 2-0 defeat to Brighton at the Stadium of Light.
The Black Cats spurned a number of chances when the game was scoreless before falling behind when Brighton defender Maxim de Cuyper opened the scoring at the start of the second half.
The game looked to have tilted in Sunderland’s favour when Pascal Struijk was sent off shortly before the hour mark, but while Le Bris brought on Dayann Methalie, Jocelin Ta Bi and Juan Riquelme Angulo to try to turn things around, his side were unable to get back on level terms. Sunderland suffered a 2-0 home defeat to ten-man Brighton.
Brighton then sealed their success when Jaouen Hadjam scored in the third minute of stoppage time.
“It was a tight game especially in the first half, I think it was really intense," said Le Bris, whose side have slipped to 16th position in the table, just a point above the relegation zone. “Pressing, counter-pressing, second balls, high press, man for man. It’s so hard to play under this pressure, even if I think we found a few options going around and behind.
“Unfortunately, we didn't score, and we had a few chances in the first half. They created a few as well, so it was really balanced, and in the second half, the turning point after ten minutes, this long throw, we were alert, we were aware of this situation, but we didn't manage the situation and they scored.
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“After that, it was a different game, especially after the red card. We had to beat the block, ten men, well organised and they were in the perfect situation to counter-attack. We lacked quality and composure in the final third at that moment.
“We felt that we were not efficient at that moment. It's a learning process. We went with Malick, 21, Dayann, 20, and Jocelin 21, so it's not an easy task to start in the Premier League in that situation, but this is the challenge.
“I think we are in our process. The league is tough, the league is relentless, fine details change the momentum and today it wasn’t for us.”
Le Bris made the surprise decision to take off Enzo Le Fee with nine minutes remaining, even though his side were one goal behind, with the Sunderland boss defending the move, even though it did not go down particularly well inside the Stadium of Light.
“We felt that we wanted to go with one-against-one players and they have this quality especially against ten men if they were isolated to create something, but unfortunately it wasn't the case today,” he said.
“Enzo was a tactical decision because we wanted to bring another striker on. So, we finished the game with Wilson [Isidor] and Juan Angulo, so you need to bring one player out of the midfield.
“I think Noah [Sadiki] was still intense, so it was just a question of who was in the best shape at that moment.”