Soccer-Brighton's patience pays off as Huerzeler helps Seagulls soar

Soccer Football - Premier League - Brighton & Hove Albion v Crystal Palace - The American Express Community Stadium, Brighton, Britain - October 18, 2026 Brighton and Hove Albion's Yasin Ayari scores their third goal Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra

Oct 18 (Reuters) - Eight months after some ⁠Brighton & Hove Albion fans called for Fabian Huerzeler to be sacked after a home defeat by Crystal Palace, the young ⁠manager has the Seagulls soaring in third place in the Premier League after Sunday's 5-0 rout of the same ‌opponents.

The 33-year-old, the youngest manager in the English top flight, watched his side demolish rivals Palace in a game capped by Diego Gomez's spectacular halfway-line strike that sent the home fans into raptures.

It was a far cry from February's 1-0 defeat in the "M23 Derby" that left Brighton languishing in 14th place as some of the club's ​fans chanted "You're getting sacked in the morning."

Brighton, however, refused to push the panic ⁠button and retained their faith in Huerzeler, who eventually ⁠guided the south-coast club to an eighth-placed finish.

Chairman Tony Bloom rewarded Huerzeler with a contract extension until 2029 and the club are ⁠reaping ‌the benefits of the trust placed in the young German.

LEAGUE-LEADING 23 GOALS

With Sunday's 5-0 victory, Brighton sit five points behind leaders Manchester City with a league-leading 23 goals in seven games, five clean sheets and a goal difference of plus 18, six better ⁠than City's.

"A few months ago (after losing to Palace) we were in a different ​place and I said I'd keep pushing ‌to get another opportunity to beat them, so I'm happy we did it today," Huerzeler told Sky Sports.

"It's not a ⁠one-man show, so I ​credit my players and my staff. Hopefully everyone enjoyed it."

While Erling Haaland has scored eight of City's goals to move clear in the Golden Boot race, Brighton have already had 11 different scorers.

"If you look, they're shared around a lot which is a massive help. We've got everyone chipping in and ⁠helping out the team," Brighton defender Lewis Dunk told BBC Radio.

"If you look ​at our clean sheets, I think it's the most we've ever had at this part of the season, so we're buzzing with that as well."

Brighton's success in the new campaign has been built on relentless pressing, a hallmark of last month's commanding 3-0 victory over champions ⁠Arsenal that left coach Mikel Arteta searching for answers after his side's first defeat of the season.

Pascal Gross's successful return has provided another major boost. The 35-year-old, who previously spent seven seasons at Brighton, rejoined the club earlier this year in search of regular first-team football.

Gross is their joint-top scorer with three goals while the German also leads the team with four assists. It was his free kick that forced ​an own goal in the fourth minute that opened the floodgates against Palace.

Dunk refused to entertain ⁠talk of a title challenge so early in the season, while Huerzeler was equally determined to keep expectations in check.

"To me, the most ​important thing is the things we can improve... It's good to celebrate the win, ‌but understand there is still space for improvement, especially for individual players," ​he said.

"We have to keep going. We can't be satisfied. We have to keep pushing, stay humble and understand why we are successful at the moment to keep pushing at that level."

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in BengaluruEditing by Toby Davis)

Thank you for your report!

足球 - 英超联赛 - 布莱顿对阵水晶宫 - 英国布莱顿美国运通社区球场 - 2026年10月18日 布莱顿球员亚辛·阿亚里攻入球队第三球 图片来源：路透社/彼得·齐博拉

10 月 18 日（路透社）——在布莱顿和霍夫阿尔比恩队主场输给水晶宫八个月后，一些球迷呼吁解雇法比安·赫泽勒，而这位年轻的教练在周日以 5-0 大胜同一对手后，带领海鸥队在英超联赛中高居第三位。

这位 33 岁的教练是英格兰顶级联赛中最年轻的主教练，他亲眼目睹自己的球队在比赛中大胜对手水晶宫，迭戈·戈麦斯在中场附近打入一记精彩的远射，让主场球迷欣喜若狂。

这与二月份在“M23德比”中0-1负于布莱顿的情况截然不同，当时布莱顿一度排名第14位，一些俱乐部球迷甚至高喊“你明天早上就要被解雇了”。

然而，布莱顿拒绝按下恐慌按钮，并继续信任赫泽勒，最终赫泽勒带领这支南部海岸俱乐部获得了第八名的好成绩。

主席托尼·布鲁姆将赫尔泽勒的合同延长至 2029 年，俱乐部正在收获对这位年轻德国球员信任所带来的好处。

联赛领先的23个进球

凭借周日5-0的胜利，布莱顿在积分榜上落后领头羊曼城5分，7场比赛打入联赛最多的23球，5场零封对手，净胜球为+18，比曼城多6个。

“几个月前（输给水晶宫之后），我们处境不同，我说过我会继续努力争取再次击败他们的机会，所以我很高兴我们今天做到了，”赫泽勒告诉天空体育。

“这不是我一个人的功劳，所以我要感谢我的球员和工作人员。希望大家都看得开心。”

虽然埃尔林·哈兰德已经为曼城打入 8 球，在金靴奖争夺战中遥遥领先，但布莱顿已经有 11 名不同的球员取得了进球。

“你看，这些资源都被大家广泛分享，这对球队帮助很大。每个人都在尽自己的一份力，帮助球队，”布莱顿后卫刘易斯·邓克告诉BBC电台。

“如果你看看我们的零封场次，我认为这是我们本赛季同期取得的最多零封场次，所以我们也为此感到非常兴奋。”

布莱顿在新赛季的成功建立在不懈的压迫之上，上个月他们以 3-0 大胜卫冕冠军阿森纳的比赛就是最好的证明。这场失利也让主教练米克尔·阿尔特塔在球队遭遇赛季首败后苦苦寻找答案。

帕斯卡尔·格罗斯的成功回归无疑给球队带来了又一重大鼓舞。这位35岁的球员此前曾在布莱顿效力七个赛季，今年早些时候重返俱乐部，寻求稳定的首发机会。

格罗斯以三粒进球并列队内最佳射手，同时这位德国球员还以四次助攻领跑全队。正是他在第四分钟的任意球迫使对方打入一粒乌龙球，打开了对阵水晶宫的进攻大门。

邓克拒绝在赛季初期谈论争夺总冠军的话题，而赫泽勒也同样决心控制外界的期望。

“对我来说，最重要的是我们可以改进的地方……庆祝胜利固然好，但也要明白还有进步的空间，尤其是对个别球员而言，”他说。

“我们必须继续前进。我们不能满足于现状。我们必须不断努力，保持谦逊，并明白我们目前取得成功的原因，才能继续保持这样的水平。”

（班加罗尔 Rohith Nair 报道，Toby Davis 编辑）

感谢您的报告！