Roberto De Zerbi’s side has been performing relatively well in the English Premier League with Brighton currently sitting in 6th place with 15 points. ‘The Albions’ only trail league leaders Manchester City by three points after seven games.
Following a strong start to the season with a 3-1 win against Manchester United at Old Trafford, and a 3-1 victory at home to recent PSG killers Newcastle, it’s safe to say that Brighton’s fans and avid football fans expected ‘The Seagulls’ to perform a lot better in the UEFA Europa League than they have.
Two weeks ago De Zerbi’s men lost their opening Europa League game 3-2 at home to AEK Athens. Brighton spent the whole game chasing the result and two goals converted from the penalty spot by Joao Pedro meant the ‘Albions’ were level after the 67th Minute. AEK Athens sealed the game following a late goal from Argentinian Centre-forward Ezequiel Ponce in the 84th minute.
Fate was set to repeat itself last night in Marseille when Olympique went 2-0 up just 20 minutes into the game. German midfielder Pascal Gross brought one back in the 54th minute and a third penalty in two games saw Joao pedro bring the score level in the 84th minute.
Although ‘The Seagulls’ brought home a singular point and avoided defeat, Roberto De Zerbi wasn’t impressed with his teams performance, ” We can play better, we have to play better, we…we need to play better and to believe more in ourselves.”
Brighton will now face two difficult fixtures in the English Premier League against an on-fire Liverpool, who breezed past Union Saint-Gilloise last night, and league leaders Manchester City at the Etihad before the they play a struggling Ajax at home in the Europa League.
