Brighton & Hove Albion manager Chris Hughton praised the resilience and determined defending his side showed in the 1-0 win over Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon.
The Seagulls picked up their first away win of the Premier League season thanks to Beram Kayal’s first-half goal at St James’ Park, and the boss was delighted with what he saw from his team.
He said, “It was a win that’s been a long time coming so it’s massively satisfying.
“There are different ways to win a game away from home and you always have to earn it – we were up against a good side today who had a lot of possession, so we had to defend really well.
“We’ve made lots of blocks and good saves – today we had to be resolute. What you need is to have defenders who’re ready to get their head onto the ball and block the chances and we had that this afternoon.”
The victory also meant that Albion picked up their second clean sheet in as many top-flight matches following the win over West Ham United by the same scoreline the last time out, and the manager was satisfied with the feat.
“The two clean sheets in a row are what we spoke about before today’s game – in our last match we were equally as happy with the shutout as we were with the goal we scored.
“You can talk about it a lot but it’s hard to put it into practice in this division. Sometimes the opponent can have a slice of luck and get a goal and then you’re under pressure.
“This is a big win for us and a big clean sheet.”
Kayal’s strike came just before the half-hour mark in the north east, as the Israeli midfielder deflected a Jose Izquierdo strike past Martin Dubravka in the home goal – but Hughton insisted the most important thing was the victory as opposed to the goalscorer.
“I only found out after the game that Beram got a touch to it – whoever got it should be pleased because it was a vital one for us.
“I don’t imagine the players will be arguing in the dressing room either, they’ll just be satisfied that we’ve picked up three very valuable points today.
“It’s a difficult place to come and so we should be delighted with today.”
Supporters can watch the manager's full assessment of today’s game with Newcastle United above on Seagulls TV - and fans can sign up to the service by clicking here.