Revenge is best served on a freezing cold day at the City Ground, Brighton found as they made amends for being thrashed 7-0 here 10 months ago. If Sean Dyche thought pummelling the Premier League champions last week was a sign of what was to come, he was given a shock against a Seagulls side who flew up to fifth.
Fabian Hürzeler is an innovator, picking the left-back Maxim De Cuyper as a winger as Brighton targeted a perceived weak spot on the Forest right. The German was proved correct with his selection as the auxiliary midfielder opened the scoring before the substitute Stefanos Tzimas removed nerves late on after making the most of a Morato error.
“We came here to clean the air, and not only for us, but also for our supporters, for our fans, therefore, I’m quite happy that they were able to win,” Hürzeler said.
The hosts look unable to cope with a schedule of playing twice a week. Dyche’s side belatedly grew into the game but were unable to take their chances, hindered by the absence of Chris Wood, while Murillo’s injury unsettled the defence.
The first whistle failed to wake Forest from a nap against a fizzing Brighton team. In the first minute Yankuba Minteh went through one-on-one with Matz Sels, who showed he was the home team’s most energetic player by sprinting off his line to repel the Brighton man.
By the time the minutes ticked into double figures, Brighton had enjoyed four good opportunities, the final one seeing Georginio Rutter’s shot blocked on the line. Brighton targeted Forest’s right, putting Nicolò Savona under constant pressure thanks to De Cuyper, who was able to run in behind and put in numerous dangerous crosses. “We gave them the upper hand certainly in the first 20 minutes by just not being anywhere close to what we needed to be,” Dyche admitted.
Dyche prowled the edge of the technical area, sending out instruction in a desperate attempt to make his side competitive but looked exasperated by the early performance. As the half-hour mark approached, a football match was threatening to break out as Forest belatedly got involved. Morgan Gibbs-White volleyed a Nicolás Domínguez cross inches wide and the Forest playmaker should have done better after beating the offside trap but his low ball towards Igor Jesus was far too powerful, despite being under no pressure. Either way, Forest finally had some hope.
It took until first-half injury time for Brighton to take the lead when a free-kick was recycled by Bart Verbruggen, and Rutter slipped the ball through for De Cuyper in space to do the rest. If his teammates had shown similar levels of clinical finishing earlier, the game would have been out of sight by this point.
Dyche said: “But even after that bad start, we were throwing ourselves and making sure we’d block in. Sometimes that’s what happens, you’ve got to stay in it to win it. So surprisingly I was pleased until the last couple of minutes when we gave away a really soft goal.”
Dyche responded at the break by sending on Omari Hutchinson and Callum Hudson-Odoi. The aim was to create problems for Brighton which they did not have before. Hutchinson was inventive on the right, while the delivery of Hudson-Odoi on the left made the visiting defence pause for thought.
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Brighton found themselves on the back foot and the City Ground rediscovered its voice. The decibels should have increased but Gibbs-White’s goal-bound shot from an Elliot Anderson corner was deflected wide by Ibrahim Sangaré. In the moment it was little consolation, but Forest were finally on top.
That means little in the hectic nature of a Premier League match, with Forest soon thankful for two smart saves from Sels in quick succession. The Belgian followed this up by sprinting 40 yards out of his goal to win the ball, before starting an attack which almost concluded with Igor Jesus being thwarted by Verbruggen.
It was becoming a battle for Brighton to hold onto their slender lead. Forest’s wingers were creating havoc and only the last-ditch efforts of defenders was keeping them at bay, before doubling the lead when Tzimas capitalised on Morato’s 88th-minute mistake.
Hürzeler said: “We suffered in certain moments in the second half, especially with the wingers. [It’s about] how you defend the box, how you stick together, how you also suffer during this period together, that was impressive today.”
Brighton showed both sides of their game, the explosive attacking play and the hardened, something Hürzeler enjoyed witnessing, but not as much as the table.
