Brighton: Brighton and Hove Albion made sure of Premier League football next season with two games to spare after a Pascal Gross goal gave them a stunning 1-0 home win over Manchester United here Friday.
It was no more than Brighton deserved after outplaying their more illustrious rivals throughout the contest as they sent a passionate home crowd into raptures after Gross headed home a 57th-minute winner.
The German forward got on the end of a sharp Jose Izquierdo cross from the left and the ball crossed the line before Marcus Rojo’s desperate attempt to keep it out.
The result lifted Brighton into 11th place on 40 points from 36 matches assuring them of finishing above the bottom three as they visit champions Manchester City Wednesday before their final game away to Liverpool.
United remained at the second spot on 77 points ahead of Thursday’s trip to West Ham followed by a home game against Watford.
Brighton manager Chris Hughton was delighted after seeing the Seagulls, who beat United 1-0 in their last top-flight meeting at this venue in 1982, avoid relegation.
“There’s a group of players with great belief and discipline,” a delighted Brighton manager Chris Hughton told Sky Sports. “We learned after the first few games that the performances were good enough and we weren’t always going to get beaten, and that gave us confidence.”
Hughton’s counterpart Jose Mourinho gave forwards Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial a rare start together but they failed to impress as the visitors looked disjointed and bereft of ideas, with their final pass going astray all evening.
The only positives from the match Mourinho could take was a string of good saves by keeper David de Gea which kept United afloat in the opening half as he kept out long-range efforts from Glenn Murray and Izquierdo before he denied Gross from close range.
There was nothing the Spaniard could do after Izquierdo got the rub of the green to get past his marker and find Gross at the edge of the six-yard box, with the 26-year old from Mannheim showing sharp instincts in front of goal.
“You have the answer now when you ask ‘why always (striker Romelu) Lukaku?’,” a fuming Mourinho said, making it clear whom he is unhappy with.
However, an ecstatic Gross revealed he was initially unsure whether he scored before referee Craig Pawson awarded the goal. “I wasn’t sure,” said Gross. “Heading is not my strength, I just tried to get it on target.”
Reuters
