Roberto De Zerbi praised his squad’s spirit and versatility after they sealed a stoppage-time 1-0 win against Manchester United.
Alexis Mac Allister scored his ninth league goal of the season from the penalty spot as Albion completed the double over United and climbed to sixth and into the Europa League spots. It gave us a measure of revenge for the defeat we suffered to United on penalties in the semi-final of the FA Cup last week.
It was just the boost for our head coach, who has been laid low for 48 hours by a virus. He made four changes to the team which had thrashed Wolves 6-0 and played Moises Caicedo at right back with Tariq Lamptey, Joel Veltman and Pascal Gross all injured.
“We deserved to win today and in the semi-final,” said the Italian. “If you play well there might be one time when you can lose but most of the time, from my experience in football, you win.
"I think there is a god of football." 🙏 pic.twitter.com/jbH7DBpYN3
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) May 4, 2023
“We played well and had a lot of chances but the clean sheet was also important.”
Asked about Caicedo’s role in defence, De Zerbi added, “We have reached a level with the right players in the right positions and I didn’t want to change.
“Caicedo is a top, top player who can play anywhere and [Billy] Gilmour deserved to play after his performance against Wolverhampton, he was fantastic. They both showed their quality.”
De Zerbi hopes Gross, who had a minor muscle injury, and Evan Ferguson could both be in contention on Monday for Everton’s visit to the Amex.