Brighton strengthened their bid for European qualification by beating rivals Bournemouth 2-1 with Danny Welbeck scoring the winner.
In a fantastically frantic encounter involving two teams playing risk-reward football, it was Brighton that edged in front early through Joao Pedro from the penalty spot after he was fouled by Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Kaoru Mitoma hit a post for Brighton and Antoine Semenyo thrashed a great opportunity straight at Bart Verbruggen for the away side before Justin Kluivert produced a mesmeric finish from 25 yards that found the top corner.
Bournemouth looked to have the momentum, but the game swung back in Brighton’s favour when substitute Danny Welbeck broke the offside trap and rolled home a precise finish.
It means since suffering that 7-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest, Brighton have won four games on the spin and are now just three points off a top four place. Meanwhile, Bournemouth have now lost back-to-back games.
Minteh the unsung hero who set the tone for Brighton
Sky Sports’ Lewis Jones:
Brighton might just be onto something special between now and the end of the campaign based on their fantastic front four that is rocking and rolling right now. Georginio Rutter dazzled in the pocket, dovetailing with Joao Pedro to devastating effect at times.
There is a wavelength there that makes Brighton such a dangerous team. Mitoma offers such quality out wide too but it was the performance of Yankuba Minteh without the ball that caught the eye. He was phenomenal out of possession in terms of work-rate and making sure Tariq Lamptey wasn’t overrun by Semenyo.
He made an incredible seven tackles in the match – the most of any player. Not bad for someone who is supposed to be playing as a winger. His enthusiasm to muck in set the tone for Brighton to register a huge three points.
‘Joao Pedro buys the penalty, he is smart’
Joao Pedro wins Brighton a penalty
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola called Joao Pedro “very smart” for winning Brighton’s penalty that opened the scoring.
The Brazilian was fouled by Kepa Arrizabalaga and then scored from the spot.
Iraola said: “The forward [Joao Pedro] is very smart, forgets about scoring a goal and tries to buy the penalty. When you do this they call it a penalty so I’m not complaining. He does well.
“We played well, just as good if not better than Brighton. We had more corners, more shots, more crosses, more time in their half but when you lose you have to make that count. They were better in both boxes – this is what counts in football. It was a good game of football from both teams.”
Hurzeler plays down European talk
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler:
“The most important thing today was doing the basic things right – play intense and outwork and outrun them. That was the key to win the game. I saw a team that wanted to defend and attack together.
“I’m not a fan of emphasising one victory or one loss too much. When we had our loss against Forest I didn’t emphasise too much and it was all about the reaction. We are in a process and we take it game-by-game.”
