Brighton & Hove Albion ground out a scrappy 1-0 UEFA Conference League victory over Getafe, and have now kept clean sheets in 10 of their 13 European games.
The Seagulls arrived in Spain looking to rediscover their attacking edge in Europe after being held to a frustrating goalless draw with Jablonec last time out, and faced a Los Azulones side still rocked by a 5-2 mauling at the hands of Lugano on matchday two.
The hosts came out of their traps quicker, but Brighton had an early flurry of chances. Georginio Rutter’s ball from the left narrowly missed an onrushing Yasin Ayari at the far post, before Jack Hinshelwood’s effort was parried to safety by David Soria.
After a couple more opportunities for Georginio, Brighton looked to be finding their rhythm.
However, the game became increasingly scrappy as the half wore on, and Brighton were indebted to Bart Verbruggen for an outstanding one-handed save to keep out Ivan Azon Monzon’s strike.
Jaouen Hadjam had the visitors’ best chance before the break when his shot clipped the post with just Soria left to beat, before Malick Yalcouye’s follow-up shot was cleared off the line by Sebastian Boselli.
Hadjam was one of the Seagulls’ most active protagonists going forward, as the Algerian rattled the woodwork for a second time when his long-range strike clipped the bar.
But unlike matchday two in the Czech Republic, Brighton found the breakthrough in the 64th minute thanks to Yalcouye. Costinha headed Pascal Gross’ cross back across the face of goal, and the Ivorian was on hand to nod the ball in off the underside of the bar.
Ibrahim Osman entered the fray in the 78th minute, and came agonisingly close to making an immediate impact when he mistimed his effort from a Diego Gomez’s enticing delivery from the right-hand side.
Ultimately, Fabian Hurzeler’s side had to settle for one goal on a night which secured three very welcome points.
Question marks remain over this side’s ability to consistently unlock stubborn defences in this competition, but the win moves them into the top eight automatic qualification places.
Meanwhile, this defeat for Getafe was their second in three Conference League games this season, and they will need to improve fast in order to avoid an early elimination.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Bart Verbruggen (Brighton)
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