Brighton & Hove Albion manager Chris Hughton reflected on his team’s positive display at Anfield this evening, and believes the Seagulls could have taken something from the match with more precision in front of goal.
The Seagulls were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, as Mohamed Salah fired the winning goal in the first half, but Hughton was delighted with how his side applied pressure in the closing stages on Merseyside.
He said, “Over the 90 minutes, you know you’ve got to have a defence who throw their bodies in front of the ball, and a goalkeeper who’s going to make a few good saves for you.
“But I thought we had chances of our own. They made changes towards the end of the game to get that extra goal - but we finished really strong and we won’t have many opportunities like that.
“At 1-0 down, you expect Liverpool to push on, especially going into their favourite end of the ground, but we got stronger as the game went on and played a system that helped us.
“We were good on the ball and had some really good moments. If we were a little more clinical with our chances, then we would have taken something from the game.”
Salah was played in on goal after Yves Bissouma was dispossessed in the centre of midfield, and although Hughton admitted his disappointment at the nature of the goal, he praised his players for their reaction to going behind.
“We conceded a very poor goal and you have to make sure you stick in the game. At that stage you can crumble a little bit, particularly here with the quality they’ve got, but we stuck in there.
“When you concede a goal like that, the disappointment can spread through the team and that can show, but I don’t think it showed. We raised our game again.
“I knew that the longer we didn’t concede, we’d have opportunities of our own. On the balance of play, particularly as the away team, we maybe deserved to get something.
“To come here and finish strong, like we did in the game today, it’s not normal. Most teams that come here, by the 70th minute, the game is generally over. But we were still in there and had two really good chances, especially Pascal’s chance.”
Albion occupy 12th position in the Premier League after taking three points from their opening three games, and Hughton reflected on his side’s recent form, which has attracted plaudits.
“It’s a very difficult division but we’ve been very good in the last two games. They were of course against Manchester United at home and Liverpool away, so it’s not a bad thing to be good in those games.
“We need to make sure we have the same level of performance in the games we can realistically get points from. If we get that level of performance throughout the season, then we’ll be fine.
“We’ve had two very difficult games and we’ve come out with a lot of credit. We got a result last week and of course didn’t this week, but we gave everything to get a result.”
Tickets are on general sale for Tuesday’s Carabao Cup tie against Southampton at the Amex, with prices starting at just £12 for adults and £6 for under-18s if booked in advance. Visit BrightonAndHoveAlbion.com/tickets for more information and to secure your seats!