No Amex fairytale but Brighton’s interim boss Harris proud of performance against Everton | OneFootball

Brighton & Hove Albion’s interim head coach Mikey Harris said that he was proud of his side’s efforts despite falling to a 2-1 defeat to Everton at the Amex Stadium on Friday evening.

The Seagulls contested a fairly even game in which all of the goals came in the second half. Karen Holmgaard opened the scoring for the visitors before Brighton & Hove Albion levelled matters through Tatiana Pinto. Everton then grabbed a winner when they profited from an own goal from Guro Bergsvand.

Despite the disappointing result, Brighton & Hove Albion’s interim boss Harris expressed pride towards his team’s effort and style of play.

“My overriding emotion is disappointment but also, I have a lot of pride for the way the players played,” Harris said when speaking to the media after the match. “The courage that they showed, the style and the identity was really important. We saw that and I think the fans that came tonight would see what we’re trying to do and that we’ve got some fantastic footballers.

“It wasn’t the fairytale result that we wanted at the Amex but I do think it was an entertaining game for the 5,000 fans that came. A big thank you to them for coming out and supporting the players because I felt they did right through to the last moments when we believed that we should have had a penalty.”

After Brighton & Hove Albion had briefly levelled the scores, Everton regained the lead following a defensive mix-up which resulted in Bergsvand putting the ball into her own net. Harris did not want to dwell on that unfortunate moment for his side.

He said “Yeah, that’s football. Sometimes, mistakes happen and it did swing the momentum of course. It knocks the wind out of your sails a little bit but as I said, I’m really, really proud of all of the players.

“We know that errors can happen, everyone is going to make a mistake when they step out onto the pitch, it’s just that some mistakes turn out to be more important.”

Harris went on to say that he felt that there was little between the two sides, however, Brighton & Hove Albion will now go away and reflect on their performance before returning to action next weekend.

He said “I felt like it was a fairly even game, two teams trying to play really good football. Speaking to Brian [Sørensen] afterwards, we were both of the opinion that it became a bit too open in the second half, a little bit more transitional.

“I’m not saying that we did enough to win the game but I think we had some big moments that didn’t go our way. The penalty in the last moments being one of them.

“I’m super-proud of the players, super-proud of the staff for the way they’ve prepared, not just for this game but since I’ve been in the role. We will do what we always do, win, lose or draw; we will sit down, we’ll watch the game back, we’ll review it against our processes and we’re going to try and be better next time.”

Brighton & Hove Albion are back in action on Sunday 28 April 2024 when they travel to Tottenham Hotspur.