Brighton held to 0-0 draw by Jablonec as Hurzeler admits basics were 'not good enough' on 100th game
Brighton held to 0-0 draw by Jablonec as Hurzeler admits basics were 'not good enough' on 100th game
Brighton's six-match winning streak in all competitions came to an abrupt halt in the Conference League on Friday night as Fabian Hurzeler's side were held to an uneventful 0-0 draw by Jablonec — a result that denied the German a victory on his 100th game in charge of the club.
Brighton arrived at the fixture having scored 22 goals during that six-game run, but they were unable to break down a disciplined Jablonec defence and were left to reflect on a night of wasted possession rather than goals.
Rutter misses chances, Yalcouye denied by offside flag
The hosts' best openings fell to Georginio Rutter, who had scored a brace in Brighton's previous Conference League outing. The forward missed two good chances before the break. Malick Yalcouye thought he had finally broken the deadlock 50 minutes in, only to be caught offside.
Jablonec could have snatched the win late on. Bart Verbruggen was called into action to deny Jiri Slama and Vakhtang Tchanturishvili, ensuring the Brighton goalkeeper collected a fifth consecutive clean sheet in all competitions.
Hurzeler: 'If you play 0-0, then you didn't create enough'
Hurzeler named a heavily changed side from the one that beat Crystal Palace 5-0 in the Premier League last time out, and he was blunt about the performance afterwards.
"We did not play on our highest level; Jablonec defended well and defended the box well, good movement in transition. Overall, not the result we wanted, but we have to keep going," he told TNT Sports.
"If you play 0-0, then you didn't create enough; that's definitely something we have to get better at.
"We have to understand what it needs to play in this Cup. Understand we have to be brilliant at the basics. We weren't good at the basics; that's something we have to improve."
Asked specifically why his team struggled to find a way through, Hurzeler pointed to the quality of the final action and to the counter-attacking space his side surrendered as they chased the game.
"Good defending and crosses not where we wanted to have them. The precision in the last action was missing; that's something we have to improve," he added.
"The longer the game got, the more space they had to make transitions. We tried to push hard for scoring the goal, and of course they had the space to make countermovements. In certain moments, we were lucky.
"We always learn. I think it's important to take things away from this game and improve in the next game. There is no time for a lot of disappointment; we have to focus on the next game."
The numbers behind a night of frustration
The statistics underlined Brighton's dominance without penetration. They tallied 26 shots in total, but only four were on target, and they mustered just 1.42 expected goals (xG). They also recorded 56 touches in the opposition box and 63 final-third entries, and finished the match with 72.1% possession — yet Jablonec kept their discipline to shut them out completely.
For Hurzeler, the draw is a reminder of the demands of juggling domestic form with a European campaign. Earlier reporting noted that Hurzeler had guided Brighton to third in the Premier League after 11 wins in his first 18 top-flight games, a remarkable turnaround from the February home defeat by Crystal Palace that saw him booed by his own supporters.
Brighton's challenge now is to rediscover the attacking fluency that produced 22 goals across their six-game winning run — starting with their next fixture, with Hurzeler insisting there is no time for lingering disappointment.