Brighton and Hove Albion snatched a valuable point from Arsenal by holding the latter to a 1-1 draw in a Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, August 31. Brighton are leading the league table with seven points from three matches.
Fabian Hurzeler, the youngest manager to manage a Premier League team, has overseen wins and draws against two top Premier League teams. Brighton beat Manchester United 2-1 at home last week.
The Seagulls, as Brighton is popularly known, finished 11th in the league last season under Roberto de Zerbi after a bright start. Hence, Hurzeler cannot afford to be complacent if his team is to harbour any dreams of playing in European competitions next season.
Brighton Have a Few Exciting Players
The Seagulls have the quality in their players and, more importantly, perhaps, the mentality to rub shoulders with the elite clubs in England. Against Manchester United last weekend, they showed the willingness to go for a match-winner after the Red Devils had equalized.
Arsenal took the lead in the first half at Emirates, but not before Brighton had dominated a certain period of play by having more than 80% ball possession. The Gunners then scored, but Declan Rice’s sending-off allowed them to score the equalizer and dominate the second half.
With players like Joao Pedro and Danny Welbeck in the central areas and Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh on the flanks, Brighton has a strong attacking unit that can make things difficult for most of the other teams in the league.
If they can continue the good run and Hurzeler can stop complacency from setting in, the Seagulls can aspire to finish inside the top six teams by the end of the season.