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.”

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.”

TWTD

Bluewhiteboy added 13:37 - Jan 17 @blues1, without getting drawn into pettiness but what a silly argument. If delap charged into someone in the street or wolfy gauged his studs into someone's legs I. Tein the street they all be arrested but it did happen on teb pitch so pointless comparison. If one of our players did it and let's be honest we have got a few that aren't scared we'd all praise them for getting stuck in. Morsy and delap giving it to the opposition I really belive has given us the fighting chance of staying in this league. What annoys me is fans that cant see it for what it is.

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Buryblue78 added 13:39 - Jan 17 I agree Bert What they have got right in rugby is that the ref and video ref are wired up and you can here them asking questions like did he make contact with the head and could he have avoided contact at all They also show it slowed but also in real time as all fouls look worse slowed down They take a little bit of time but they generally get a fair decision VAR is not transparent and nobody knows how or why they come to the conclusion For me it’s a red No mitigation He could and should have pulled out when he realised he could not charge the ball down That should be his responsibility and he should pay for his mistake/ deliberate assault whichever it was I believe football these days simply courts controversy and disregards right and wrong That said I thought we were poor and deserved nothing from the game Everyone had an off day unfortunately Need to respond now and if we get a point or even credit from next two games that will be an improvement

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BobbyBell added 13:40 - Jan 17 Having watched this several times he could easily have avoided Walton but chose to jump into hm. That's a red anywhere on the pitch. An accidental collision would be a yellow but that looks very deliberate. How the hell can VAR and the ref see it as just a yellow. What message does that send out to players?
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Ftnfwest added 13:51 - Jan 17 He's the Brighton manager, he's hardly going to say 'yes he should have been sent off' so his opinion is pretty worthless really. It's VAR who had the chance to determine whether he meant it enough and/or failed to take the opponent's safety into account with a reckless challenge (the latter is unquestionable i'd say).
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badadski added 13:59 - Jan 17 I thought he had invoked the spirit of frank nouble
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algarvefan added 15:31 - Jan 17 Every time a red card for me, he makes the challenge with both feet off the ground, nowhere near the ball and could cause serious injury, he should have been sent off. Those are the rules of the game, it's an outrage and I think changed the course of the game.
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bluesman added 15:41 - Jan 17 It was stone wall red and it turned the whole game. Walton didn't look with it and it felt like the whole team was affected. We lost our concentration and fell apart. It was grim. As I've been saying no goalie in the league will want to see that replay
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BurleysGloryDays added 15:50 - Jan 17 I thought Brighton were thuggish yesterday, and this comment from this unimpressive manager speaks volumes. My strong sense was KMK was not impressed either.
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flykickingbybgunn added 19:51 - Jan 17 The fact that the manager felt he had to raise the subject to defend the yellow card suggests that he really thought that it should have been red. A bit like a chairman giving his manager a vote of confidence.
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tractorfromongar added 20:06 - Jan 17 Nothing short of a dangerous assault on Walton
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Mariner1974 added 01:35 - Jan 18 It was a yellow...He slowed down when he realised he wasn't quite gonna make it, but his momentum still took him into the keeper. No intention to hurt the keeper. Would I have liked to see a red in the game of course, as it would have helped us, but I can't say that he was out there to hurt Walton, and was entitled to try and get to the ball after weak back pass
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