Chris Hughton taught his former side a harsh lesson in the realities of the Championship as Brighton picked off a fragile visiting side and left Alex Neil ruing the worst defeat in his short managerial career.
What had been billed as a tight encounter between evenly matched rivals ended up as a rout. Goals from Lewis Dunk and Anthony Knockaert complemented a Glenn Murray hat-trick and left home fans believing they can improve on last season’s third-place finish. Norwich, who led the league 13 days ago, ended the day confronting each other in heated dressing room exchanges.
Hughton spent two seasons in charge at Carrow Road, where his reputation as a safety-first coach never endeared him to the home support despite keeping them in the Premier League in the 2012-13 season before relegation the following campaign. The 57-year-old is held in far greater affection here in Brighton and he cited a solid defensive foundation as the main reason for his team’s easy victory.
“When you’re playing against such a talented team the basis has to be; can you keep a clean sheet?” Hughton said. “We defended as a team very well, we restricted them to minimal chances and the team should be as proud about the defensive side as the rest. Irrespective of the opposition these days don’t happen too often.”
Hughton was full of praise for Murray, the striker who made his return to the club in the summer. He opened the scoring in the sixth minute, capitalising on sloppy play from Norwich’s goalkeeper, Michael McGovern, but for Hughton it was his second goal, a firm header to finish a counterattack on the hour, that decided the match. “Glenn is a proven striker at this level,” he said. “He scores goals. He worked very hard, the first goal being a great example of that. It was a great opportunist goal. But the second goal was crucial. We were up against a very talented team, but they opened up more at 2-0 and we exploited the spaces.”
Murray’s second goal was followed four minutes later by another header, this time from the impressive Dunk, who buried Knockaert’s corner. Murray claimed his hat-trick in the 73rd minute, pouncing on another of the visitors’ many mistakes to toe poke beyond McGovern. Knockaert completed a comprehensive thrashing when he dinked the ball home with six minutes remaining.
While Norwich were in the game at half time, the manner in which they threw it away in the second half poses serious questions about their ability to bounce back to the Premier League at the first attempt. Individual errors characterised their descent from the Premier League and they have not mended their ways this term, ironically perhaps a consequence of Neil’s commitment to playing attacking football. But the current Championship manager of the month is now under real pressure to keep his job.
“It’s fair to say I feel let down and some of them will feel like they’ve let themselves down,” Neil said about his players. “They’ve not got anywhere near enough to their standards. It’s the worst result of my career and all I can really do is apologise to the fans.”
The 35-year-old denied that some of his squad are not up for the fight in the Championship. “I don’t think that’s the case but I think they thought the game was over.
“After the second goal, that’s where the frustration comes in. We have to act as top professionals. There was more said after the match today than what I normally do. Sometimes I don’t think you think clearly after the match but that certainly changed today. They had words with each other and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”
