Yalcouye earns Brighton a win at Getafe and a top-eight place

Brighton beat Getafe 1-0 in the Conference League, with Malick Yalcouye heading the winner in the second half. The victory takes Fabian Hurzeler’s side into the competition’s top eight. The Ivory Coast midfielder scored in the 64th minute in a match that required Brighton to be patient before breaking through.

Yalcouye was one of five players brought into the starting side by Hurzeler from the team that beat Manchester City 1-0 in the previous match. He repaid that selection by scoring the only goal. Brighton then had the chance to give itself more breathing room, but substitute Ibrahim Osman missed from close range. That wasted opportunity did not prevent the visitors from returning to winning ways in Europe after a 0-0 draw at Jablonec in their previous continental outing.

The result contrasts with Getafe’s position in La Liga before the match. The club was 13th, with 12 points after 11 games. Its league record stood at three wins, three draws and five defeats, with eight goals scored and 16 conceded. In its five most recent La Liga matches, Getafe had won twice, drawn once and lost twice.

After the match, Hurzeler said Conference League games demanded patience against a compact defensive block: “It was what we expected. The games in the Conference League are different; you have to beat the low block and you have to be patient.”

The manager acknowledged that his team had not produced its best performance and had lacked intensity at times. He pointed, however, to the goal and the clean sheet: “We deserved to win this game.” Hurzeler also praised his players’ ability to find solutions and gave them credit. “My players did it today, not at the highest level, but we had to win it,” he added. Brighton therefore leaves Getafe with the points and a place in the top eight.