Jablonec 0-0 Brighton: Fabian Hurzeler's side shut out in UEFA Conference League clash

Posted on in sports

In-form Brighton saw their six-game winning run come to an end after being held to a 0-0 draw at Jablonec in the UEFA Conference League.

The Premier League's top scorers, who have scored 23 goals across their first seven matches, misfired badly in the foothills of the Jizera Mountains in the northern Czech Republic, as despite having 26 efforts at goal, they failed to score for the first time in 10 games.

Around 1,000 Seagulls fans made the trip from the Sussex coast to the homely Stadion Strelnice in the city of Jablonec nad Nisou.

These are heady days for their team, who lie third in the English top flight, fresh from Sunday's 5-0 thrashing of M23 rivals Crystal Palace.

Boss Fabian Hurzeler, in his 100th match in charge, made eight changes from that memorable win with only Bart Verbruggen, Olivier Boscagli and the omnipresent Pascal Gross keeping their places.

However, despite enjoying 73 per cent possession, the visitors struggled to create any clear-cut openings and it was their hosts who finished the stronger.

Antonin Rusek almost capitalised on a mistake by Joao Costinha, before Verbruggen had to make a spectacular fingertip save to prevent Jiri Slama's drive from hitting the top corner.

Key moments from the Stadion Strelnice

30: BIG CHANCE! Rusek meets a right-wing corner with his head, only to glance his effort wide of the near post with the goal gaping.

71: HUGE CHANCE! Costinha makes a complete mess of a headed clearance, allowing Rusek clean through, but faced with just Verbruggen to beat, Svoboda gets back just in time to make a goal-saving block.

75: WHAT A SAVE! Verbruggen comes to Brighton's with a sensational one-handed stop to turn over Slama's curler from the edge of the area.

79: SAVE! On the counter, Tchanturishvili cannot beat Verbruggen with a fierce drive at his near post.

84: WHAT A CHANCE! Slama picks out Cedidla's run in the box, but faced with just Verbruggen to beat, the centre back slashes a shot wildly past the near post.

What the manager said...

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler:

"We didn't play at our highest level. Jablonec defended well but overall it's not the result we wanted. But we have to keep going.

"If you play 0-0 then you didn't create enough, so that's definitely something where we have to get better.

"We have to understand what it means to play in this cup. We have to understand that we have to be brilliant at the basics and we weren't good at the basics today.

"A little bit [of] precision in the last action was missing and that's something we have to improve."

What the result means and next fixtures...