Hurzeler: Gomez's hard work showed in terrific display against Tykes

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Bruce Talbot

2025-09-23T22:15+01:00

Fabian Hurzeler was delighted with Albion's professionalism and performance levels at Oakwell. 📷 Paul Hazlewood.

Diego Gomez has always had an 'unbelievable shot' according to Fabian Hurzeler, but the Paraguayan more than proved it with his four-midable performance against Barnsley.

The 22-year-old scored four goals - including two stunners - in our 6-0 win at Oakwell in the third round of the Carabao Cup, comfortably securing our place in Wednesday's draw for the last 16 of the competition.

"We knew before that he has an unbelievable shot, but today he proved it on the pitch," Hurzeler reflected. "We are very happy for him because he always practices and that's the main thing, you have to keep working, keep improving, you have to develop your skills and he does that every day, so I am very pleased for him."

While Diego undoubtedly deserved the headlines, it was also a great night for Harry Howell who scored his first senior goal for Albion.

"I was pleased for him. At the beginning of the week I said we only put players on the pitch that deserve to play and he deserved it, and he scored," Hurzeler said.

Diego Gomez has completed his hat-trick for Brighton with another incredible strike 🤯 pic.twitter.com/2bqBAinQWs
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) September 23, 2025

"He has worked really hard for this goal, but he got into the game, he was always available, he always wanted to have the ball, he showed good body language when we lost the ball and this is the main thing that we have to keep on working with him on.

"He is an unbelievable player for his age, he is a big talent. But talent isn't enough, you have to work hard, you need to do the basics right if you want to do well."

Despite the favourable scoreline against the League One side, the head coach saw plenty of room for improvement.

"The first half was not the best. Of course we scored goals, but we were not great in our positioning. Overall we are pleased and Diego [Gomez] had some unbelievable moments, some great goals.

"The goals helped us to get better in our structure, especially in the second half when we played really good football and created a lot of chances. There weren't too many chances for Barnsley so overall it's a good performance. We deserved to go through. Now we have to regenerate well and prepare for the next match."