Brighton boss Graham Potter says there were plenty of positives to take from Saturday’s heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa. Villa Park has never been a happy hunting ground for the Seagulls, with them having failed to win in any of their visits to the stadium.
The early signs were positive that was about to change on Saturday when Adam Webster headed home an opening goal after 21 minutes.
Brighton continued to be the better side, right up until 35 minutes when Aaron Mooy was sent off for a second yellow card.
Villa levelled through Jack Grealish just before the break and will have felt a bit unfortunate not to be in the lead at the interval, as shortly before Conor Hourihane’s strike was ruled out by VAR due to a questionable foul by Wesley on Mat Ryan.
Despite being a man down, Brighton hardly shut up the shop, staying strong at the back and pushing numbers forward and more than deserved a draw.
However, it was not to be, Matt Targett bursting into the box in second half stoppage time before smashing home to seal a 2-1 home success.
Having had time to reflect, Potter says he was “proud” of the spirit his side showed, believing they can take plenty of positives from the defeat. “There are not too many times I have stood on the side of a pitch and been more proud of a group of players,” he said. “I just think in the circumstances, how they played and what they put into it, they were magnificent. “That is how we wanted to go. If we had stayed at 11 men, I think we would have won the game.”
Brighton are next in action on Saturday when Everton are the visitors to the Amex.
They then host Norwich on November 2, before travelling to Manchester United the following weekend.
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