Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler dismissed claims that his striker Joao Pedro should have been sent off for charging into Town keeper Christian Walton during the second half of his team’s 2-0 victory over the Blues at Portman Road.
Pedro jumped into Walton at pace with the ball already well gone in the 53rd minute, his shoulder impacting with the the keeper’s face, leaving the former Albion man needing treatment and perhaps still feeling the effects when Kaoru Mitoma scored the opening goal six minutes later.
"Why?” Hurzeler said when asked whether it should have been a red card. "I think he comes too late, but he has no bad purpose, he doesn't want to hurt him, so I don’t see a red card for this, never.”
Reflecting on the match, his team’s first victory in nine league games, the German said: "I think we controlled the game, we defended quite well, and especially in the second half we were able to create more chances.
"We stayed patient, we stayed in our structure, and we tried to play more vertically in the second half. Therefore, I think we deserved to win.”
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Town boss Kieran McKenna felt the first goal changed the game "disproportionately” and Hurzeler admitted it gave his team a significant boost.
"I think the goal helped us,” he said. "The game always opens when you score a goal because then the opponent has to react, defend higher, and press higher. This gives us more spaces in behind, and we were able to use that.
"I think we experienced a lot of moments during the season where we weren’t mature enough to win the games.
"Today, we proved that we are mature and have learned from those bad experiences. Some players are more clever and experienced than others, but everyone has to get on one level and learn from each other.”