Roberto De Zerbi is currently on the longest winless streak in the league as Brighton manager. Photo: PA/Stephen Paston
Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi said he doesn't like “80 per cent of English referees” after his 10 men were detained by Sheffield United.< /p>
Mahmoud Dahoud was sent off after 21 minutes and Sheffield United made the most of their advantage and grabbed a point at the Amex.
De Zerbi received a yellow card in an argument with fourth official Andrew Madeley in the closing stages of the game at the Amex.
Curiously, the criticism of the Brighton manager was not caused by John Brooks' decision to send off Dahoud, which he made , but rather a general understanding of what he sees as poor use of Vara.
“It’s not news, I don’t like their behavior on the pitch,” De Zerbi said.
“England is the only country where there is Var, where there is no confidence in the correctness of the decision. In other countries, you need to be 100 percent sure that the decision you make is correct. In England, no – I can’t understand it.”
The match revolved around the pointlessness of Mahmoud Dahoud red card – kick to Ben’s leg Osborne. Photo: Getty Images/David Horton
Asked whether he expected refereeing in other countries to be at a higher level, De Zerbi, who has worked in Italy, Ukraine and now the Premier League, declined to say.
“Right now I I work in Last season, in April, Brighton received an apology from the PGMOL when Stuart Attwell failed to award them a penalty in a 2-1 defeat to Tottenham.
In February, De Zerbi was sent off after a game by Darren England following a 1-0 home defeat to Fulham in a week in which he met PGMOL chief referee Howard Webb to complain about the quality of the refereeing.
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Speaking at the time, De Zerbi said: “I think the level of refereeing in the Premier League is very poor.”
“When I talk about referees, I talk about their attitude – that was the last time I will have meeting.”
Brighton brought back to earth after Ajax heroics
To energize their players for Sunday afternoon's match against Sheffield United after perhaps the most historic match in Brighton's history against Ajax on Thursday , Roberto De Zerbi's full powers of persuasion were always required.
This is the situation. Brighton's culture feels like they are a team of players fully invested in the club, with no need for external motivation, and until Mahmoud Dahoud was sent off in the 69th minute they were in complete control of the game against Paul Heckingbottom's side.
< p>But, encouraged With their first win of the season last weekend, Sheffield United took advantage of the extra man to leave the South Coast with the most incredible points yet.
Brighton are now six games without a win for the first time under De Zerbi and have gone 16 games without a draw despite being eighth in the league and well positioned to reach the play-offs in their first Europa League campaign.
< img src="/wp -content/uploads/2023/11/077e9bdb87ab54fa584dd949b4037393.jpg" />Adam Webster turned the ball into his own net to give Sheffield United an equalizer. Photo: Getty Images/SportImage
“There was no game until the red card,” sighed De Zerbi. “We are going through a bad period. I think we dropped four points – two against Fulham and two against Sheffield United. We can improve when we have the chance to kill the game because after the red card I didn't like the team. We defended poorly.”
It was a good week for Heckingbottom, who has a long list of injuries to contend with. Four points from their last two games took the Blades off the bottom of the table before the international break.
“It kind of doesn't matter,” Heckingbottom said of his team's first away point and league position. “The good thing is we played against a very good team. It's always about the points and of course in the last two games we were the stronger team finishing the game.
“I think Brighton started the game very well. The first 25 minutes in particular they moved us around and really used the space. It was very important that we stayed in the game. I’m happy with everything in the second half.”
Albion's heroics against Ajax forced De Zerbi to make six changes, but they had little effect on the level of cohesion that the Italian had worked so hard to cultivate during his time as manager. His shrill whistles echoed through the Amex Stadium as he egged and cajoled his players into a great start.
The brightest beacon on that starry night in Amsterdam was Ansu Fati, who quickly stung the palms of Wes Foderingham's running shot and struck in the first few minutes.
Brighton scored a superb goal in their next attack. a goal scored and scored by 21-year-old Ivorian Simon Adingra is another living advertisement for what is undoubtedly the Premier League's most impressive scouting department.
Simon Adingra found the net in the second game. Photo: Getty Images/Charlie Crowhurst
Collecting the ball on the left flank, Adingra dodged and dived between three scrums before receiving a perfect Cruyff pass on the turn from Facundo Buonanotte to send the ball past Foderingham. Buonanotte was the second good night of the week for the Albion faithful.
They should have had a comfortable lead going into the break and will certainly be thinking about that when summing up this match. After a brilliant exchange of passes with Adam Lallana, Fati was stopped by a brilliant stop from Foderingham.
Buonanotte also fired into the side goal when Jack Robinson failed to convert a free-kick, and then Foderingham showed off his acrobatics again on the stroke of half-time to deny Billy Gilmour's 30-metre strike.
Brighton were wide. from his brilliant best results here, but there was no need for that. Sheffield United, who finally won the game against Wolves last weekend, were completely lacking in attack in the first half.
De Zerbi introduced Joao Pedro and Kaoru Mitomou at the break and Albion started quickly again, with the Japanese striker integral to their most dangerous chances. After he deceived Jayden Bogle, Foderingham was again on hand to block shots from close range.
The Blades were more energetic in the second half and received further encouragement when Dahoud cynically ran his studs down the back of Ben Osborne's shin, and he was then immediately sent off by John Brooks with 22 minutes to play.
It took Sheffield United just five minutes to capitalize and equalize when Bogle fired a low ball into the six-yard box that Adam Webster had no choice but to turn into his own net.
Soon they were close to scoring. second when Cameron Archer deftly passed the ball to Bogle, who fired his shot wide.
It was too much for De Zerbi, who was booked by Brooks after arguing with the fourth official. A disappointing day to end a memorable week.
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