Brighton manager Graham Potter has apologised to Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola for what he described as an “emotional moment” during the Seagulls’ 3-2 victory over City last night.
Brighton went behind inside just two minutes at the Amex, as Ilkay Gundogan’s back post header across goal put the visitors in front.
Guardiola’s side then went two goals in front through Phil Foden, shortly after City defender Joao Cancelo was shown a straight red card for bringing down Danny Welbeck.
Brighton then got back into the game five minutes into the second half when Leandro Trossard fired past Ederson.
They were then level on 72 minutes when Adam Webster headed home, before Dan Burn managed to convert the ball over the line to give the Seagulls the victory.
Both Potter and Guardiola exchanged words after the final whistle – and the Brighton boss has explained the reasons why.
He told BBC Sport: “He was just disappointed with me, I was over emotional in the first goal celebrations.
“I didn’t react so well. I didn’t mean any offence to it at all, but I apologise.
“It wasn’t good from me – there was no intent, it was just an emotion that came out after a first game, a first goal with crowds, but yeah I apologise for that.”
?"It wasn't my finest hour."
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) May 18, 2021
Graham Potter apologised to Pep Guardiola after they both clashed at full-time pic.twitter.com/tTUWYEQw2f
Potter praises Brighton players
The 45-year-old – who celebrates his 46th birthday tomorrow – credited his players for the way they exploited the man advantage that was present for the majority of the game.
“It’s clearly an advantage for us to go a man up so early, but you still have to make it count,” he explained.
“You still have to use the extra player, and I thought we did that well.
“To go two down and respond in the manner we did, I thought we were in the game all the way but we needed that goal to get back into it just to give us a bit of belief, and that probably turned the atmosphere around I think.”
On the return of fans, he added: “It certainly helps – you can see the home advantage, how it’s gone with no crowd.
“The crowd does help because the things you do, in terms of getting into duels or trying to win the ball, it gives you a bit of encouragement with the fans to carry on doing it.
“It’s why the home advantage is so big. I think they absolutely helped us and they played their part in the game.”
Brighton’s victory moves them up to 15th place in the Premier League with 41 points.
They could finish as high as 13th if they can defeat Arsenal on the last day of the season.
City, meanwhile, were crowned Premier League champions last week and take on Everton in their final league game of the campaign.
They then travel to Porto to play the Champions League final against Chelsea on May 29.
Featured Image Credit: Getty
