When Brighton produced a stirring comeback to defeat Manchester City here back at the start of November and move into the top four, Fabian Hürzeler could have been forgiven for thinking that being a Premier League manager is a pretty straightforward business. Yet after another disappointing performance from his side that made it six matches without a victory and allowed Brentford to pick up only their second away point of the season, the 31-year-old is being forced to confront reality.
Despite creating a plethora of chances, Brighton couldn’t find a way past Thomas Frank’s battling side, who lost their goalkeeper Mark Flekken to injury in the first half and handed a Premier League debut to Hákon Valdimarsson. For all their positivity and possession under Hürzeler, in the absence of top scorer Danny Welbeck – who has been sidelined during their winless run with an ankle injury – Brighton lack a cutting edge in attack that was exposed again.
