- De Zerbi has praised Brighton for making light work of 10-man Sheffield United
- They secured their first away league win since November and moved to seventh
- CHRIS SUTTON: I wouldn’t be getting the bunting out at Man United just yet – It’s All Kicking Off podcast
Roberto De Zerbi hailed his Brighton side for making light work of 10-man Sheffield United as they secured their first league away win since November to move up to seventh in the table.
‘We played very well, especially in the first half. I’m sincerely sorry for the red card because I would like to play 11 against 11 in every game,’ the Italian manager said.
‘It’s not always an advantage with one player more, especially with an opponent like Sheffield United, because you can find it more difficult to score when the opponent has every player behind the ball.
‘You have to move the ball faster against a low block.’
De Zerbi was buoyed by the return of 22-year-old Simon Adingra, who won the Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast the previous weekend and scored twice at Bramall Lane.
Roberto De Zerbi hailed his Brighton side for making light work of 10-man Sheffield United as they secured their first league away win since November
De Zerbi was buoyed by the return of 22-year-old Simon Adingra, who won the Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast the previous weekend and scored twice at Bramall Lane
‘We were lucky to have Adingra and Kaoru Mitoma back as wingers.
‘In this game, without them in those one-on-ones on the wing, it would have been a very big problem,’ the manager added.
Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder was proud of his players, despite them shipping five goals at home for the third game in a row.
‘Bigger, better clubs than Sheffield United would have found it difficult with 10 men,’ said Wilder.
‘I’ve got a lot of admiration for the way Brighton play and what they do with the ball. The players never turned it in.
‘It happened to Burnley (conceding five at home against Arsenal), but I don’t know how much noise will be made about that, or will it be all about how brilliant Arsenal are?
‘We all know the narrative that goes on,’ he added.
‘The game plan at half-time for me was to go deep, so I’m not apologising to anyone.
‘If we open up, we’d get murdered. It looks like we’ve been murdered, but we haven’t. We stayed in the game.’
Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder was proud of his players, despite them shipping five goals at home for the third game in a row
