Chris Hughton Insists Brighton Were 'Good Value' for Win After Battling to 1-0 Victory Over Everton

Brighton manager Chris Hughton insisted that his side were good value for their 1-0 win after the Seagulls beat Everton in the Premier League on Saturday, courtesy of a Jurgen Locadia strike.

Everton had their attacking moments in the first half at the Amex Stadium but were unable to take their chances, and the home team grew further into the game after the break and produced a strong display to produce a surprise victory over Marco Silva’s visitors.

Hughton praised his team’s positive tone after the victory. As quoted by the club’s official website, the Brighton boss said: “We were able to take our performance against Arsenal into our game today.

“We started the game really well and that helped our confidence. We were holding on a little bit at the end – they went to a 4-2-4 with real quality up front and we had to defend well – but I thought we were really good value for the win.

“That was a major thing [starting on the front foot]. We wanted to start well in the last couple of games but sometimes a little bit of fear against the bigger teams can set in.

“Generally we start well at home and we certainly did today. That lifted the crowd and the team’s confidence. We had good enough passages in the game to warrant the win.”

The win followed up an impressive 1-1 draw at home to Arsenal on Boxing Day as Brighton ended 2018 in fine style.

Hughton admitted that he was content with his side’s form and that the Seagulls’ recent run puts Brighton in a good position ahead of the New Year.

“It’s been a good year for us,” Hughton added. “We’re on the back of two really good performances, both at home against two very good teams.

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“That puts us in good stead, but we now go through a difficult away game on Wednesday and we’ll have to show a lot of what we’ve showed over the last two games.”