Roberto De Zerbi felt Albion’s performance deserved to be rewarded with three points at Brentford.
Albion remain ninth in the Premier League after they were held to their third goalless draw of 2024 at the Gtech Stadium.
Albion created the better chances on an evening when the two defences largely cancelled each other out and would have had a penalty in first-half stoppage time had referee Andy Madley not upheld his decision not to penalise Yoane Wissa for bringing down Lewis Dunk after visiting the pitchside monitor.
“There is a different between the performance and result,” he said. “I’m really pleased with the performance; it was a true Brighton performance like Liverpool. “We shot 11 times and created six clear chances to score but we didn’t score and in our head we lost two points.
“In terms of the penalty I think the referee was correct. I didn’t see it but my assistant told me that at the beginning Dunk made a foul. The referee changed the decision of the VAR – I learned something new today."
De Zerbi had the boost of seeing Joao Pedro complete 90 minutes on his comeback after nine games out while Julio Enciso returned after injury.
“Joao played very well and makes a difference every time,” he added. “It’s very tough playing against Brentford because they are strong players and he won 90% of his duels. I am very happy for him and he’s becoming a top player for our level.”
Match reaction in association with SnickersUK.com