Graham Potter said it was a shame there was no crowd to witness Danny Welbeck’s sublime goal as Brighton took a significant step towards Premier League survival with victory over Leeds.
Former England forward Welbeck sealed a deserved 2-0 success at the Amex Stadium by lashing home after executing a perfect Cruyff turn on a dropping ball.
Pascal Gross’ early penalty set Albion on course for only a third home league win of the campaign, which moved them on to 37 points and piled further pressure on 18th-placed Fulham.
Seagulls head coach Potter will not declare his side safe until it is mathematically assured but admitted Welbeck’s moment of magic contributed to an important three points.
“It was a really good performance that ends in a result, so that’s great for us,” said Potter, whose team had gone four games without a win and three without scoring.
“It was important for us to get the second goal because we’ve had a lot of times this season where we’ve been 1-0 up, playing well, but haven’t managed to get the second one which kills the game off.
“It was a great bit of quality from Danny to get it, so overall a fantastic team performance.
“It’s one of those moments when you are just sad that there’s not a crowd there to enjoy it live because it would have been an off-the-seat moment.
“The turn itself was a great football action and then to finish it off as well as he did is great for Danny.”
Asked if Brighton were now clear of relegation danger, Potter replied: “Unless my maths is incorrect, we need more points. We want more points, so we need to focus on that, we keep fighting.”
Albion controlled proceedings and would have won by a greater margin had Leandro Trossard and Neal Maupay not spurned golden chances.
Gross confidently found the bottom left corner from the spot in the 14th minute after Ezgjan Alioski clumsily hauled down Welbeck in the box.
Potter was eventually able to breath a sigh of relief in the 79th minute when Welbeck’s deft touch took him away from Pascal Struijk and was followed by a ruthless finish.
With Welbeck’s contract set to expire in the summer, Potter is eager to tie the former Manchester United and Arsenal player to fresh terms but says discussions will wait until the campaign is completed.
“The intention is there but the most important thing at this stage is that we finish the season off as strongly as we can, that’s as a team and Danny as a professional,” said Potter.
“He’s a top guy and he wants to finish the season off well and he wants to complete the job that he’s started with us.
“And then we will sit down with all of the guys and talk about the future but now it’s just abut getting the points that we need.”
Mid-table Leeds, who were without influential England midfielder Kalvin Phillips due to injury, had plenty of possession on the south coast but fell well below their dynamic best and created little.
Defeat for the West Yorkshire club brought to an end a six-game unbeaten streak – their best top-flight run since the days of David O’Leary in November 2001 – and dented their outside hopes of European football.
Head coach Marcelo Bielsa was frustrated that his side struggled to threaten, with top scorer Patrick Bamford denied service before being substituted just before the hour mark.
“We had a problem in the creation prior to the ball reaching Patrick, where he had no influence and he could not receive the ball in positions where he can cause harm to the opponents,” said Bielsa.
“Our offensive game was weak. I always hope we can compromise them by creating more danger.”
