Fabian Hurzeler sprinted down the touchline, faced the crowd, wheeled his arms and roared with delight before running back to the technical area in the style of a show pony, knees spread high.
Brighton & Hove Albion’s head coach had his signature moment in the spring sunshine at the Amex Stadium as Carlos Baleba’s stunning winner in the 92nd minute nestled into the roof of West Ham United’s net.
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It felt as if the roof was going to come off the stadium as well. As Baleba somersaulted and was mobbed by team-mates on the far side of the pitch, beneath the main stand a bonding with the home supporters played out. It was just what Hurzeler needed and it was perfectly timed for the 32-year-old German. It was a moment that will resonate and endure.
His scriptwriter deserves a pay rise. A week earlier at Brentford, sections of fans in the away end sang, “You don’t know what you’re doing” after Hurzeler replaced Danny Welbeck and Baleba in the 77th minute of a muddled 4-2 defeat.
Redemption was swift. In the 89th minute of Saturday’s encounter, after an early lead turned into a 2-1 deficit, three of Hurzeler’s second-half substitutes combined for the equaliser. Diego Gomez’s cross was headed back across the face of goal by Brajan Gruda for Kaoru Mitoma to nod in from close range. It was further proof that Hurzeler does in fact know what he is doing.
Not that the decision-makers need any persuading. They were baffled by the transparent display of discontent at Brentford (the double change there by Hurzeler worked as well, Mitoma coming off the bench to reduce the arrears to 3-2 for the 10 men).
(Steve Bardens/Getty Images)
The removal of 34-year-old Welbeck was entirely logical, with Georginio Rutter out injured and Joao Pedro irresponsibly red carded for lashing out at Nathan Collins earlier in the second half. A man down, 3-2 down and Joao Pedro facing a three-match ban from three of the five remaining games, Hurzeler saw the bigger picture in preserving the club’s last striker standing.
Seven days later, a five-match winless streak in the Premier League, mixed with an FA Cup quarter-final exit on penalties at home against Nottingham Forest, was extinguished gloriously by Baleba, bending the ball back on target in an arc with his left foot from 30 yards and putting the quest to qualify for Europe in Hurzeler’s first season back on track.
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It goes deeper than that. The atmosphere has rocked sparingly since the Amex opened in 2011. Notable examples include a Championship play-off semi-final second leg against Sheffield Wednesday in 2016 (a 1-1 draw, 3-1 defeat on aggregate) and clinching promotion a year later with a 2-1 win against Wigan Athletic, both under Chris Hughton.
Two matches stood out for noise during the Premier League era — make that three now: Graham Potter’s chastening return with Chelsea for a raucous 4-1 defeat in October 2022 — eight weeks after he left — and the jubilation of a 1-o victory over Marseille in December 2023 to secure qualification as group winners to the last 16 of the Europa League under Roberto De Zerbi. Other than that, the backdrop to games is routinely serene, devoid of an edge, undercurrent of intimidation or resounding support.
The dramatic finale and Potter’s second homecoming with West Ham altered the narrative. Boos accompanied the final whistle at the previous home game, a 2-2 draw against relegated Leicester City. The only boos this time amid the jubilation were directed at Potter as he made his way down the tunnel.
Potter led Brighton to a ninth-placed finish with 51 points in his third and final full season in charge in 2021-22, ironically by virtue of a 3-1 win at home to West Ham on the final day. That points tally has been equalled by Hurzeler with four games to go.
Brighton’s players celebrate Baleba’s late winner (Steve Bardens/Getty Images)
The club’s Premier League points haul has only been bettered in that Europe-reaching campaign under De Zerbi (62 points, finishing sixth). It is worth remembering that, while Hurzeler may benefit from Brighton’s best squad ever in depth, most of his players are young too and his Italian predecessor had a pool of since-departed top talent two seasons ago: Moises Caicedo, Robert Sanchez and on-loan Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Pascal Gross (now at Borussia Dortmund), Adam Lallana (Southampton), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool) and Leandro Trossard (Arsenal).
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De Zerbi’s outstanding achievement should never be diminished, but perspective is required for the high bar it set for his successor in fuelling expectations. The win against West Ham also carried Hurzeler’s side beyond the total of 48 points last season in the fade to 11th under De Zerbi.
A delicious opening goal in the 13th minute by Swedish midfielder Yasin Ayari — one of three changes made by Hurzeler — helped the cause. It was almost as good and almost as far out as the match-winner by Baleba, who was immense dropping back into the centre of defence for the second time in three games in the absence of the injured and previously suspended Jan Paul van Hecke.
There was no dissent from the stands, even after goals by Mohammed Kudus early in the second half and Tomas Soucek’s 83rd-minute header threatened to turn the match on its head. The only moment when frustrations boiled over came at the start of added time, when Gruda failed to release Mitoma with West Ham outnumbered at the back.
It was not a fix-all afternoon for Hurzeler. His team were alarmingly close to failing to beat the bottom four in the table at home. Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton — the three clubs behind West Ham in 17th, all heading straight back to the Championship — have all shared the points at the Amex.
At least two goals were also conceded for the sixth league game in succession, which is a burden, but events in the final minutes at the other end of the pitch leave Brighton in a much happier mood on and off the pitch for the final push.
(Header photo: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)
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