Cardiff City gave Brighton a pasting in the Championship
CHRIS HUGHTON reckoned his side got exactly what they deserved as a hammering at Cardiff denied them the chance to move into the top two.
The Seagulls would have gone joint top of the table with a win at Cardiff City Stadium but were undone by a nightmare opening half-hour in which they shipped three goals.
Peter Whittingham, Anthony Pilkington and Lex Immers were the men to capitalise on such unexpected generosity from the Brighton rearguard and effectively put the result beyond doubt.
Dale Stephens pulled a goal back during a bright start to the second half from the visitors, but Whittingham’s second – from the penalty spot – ensured Cardiff scored four in a game for the first time since December 2012 and boosted their play-off aspirations.
Having missed the opportunity to put real pressure on Middlesbrough and Hull, both of whom were not in league action, Brighton manager Hughton pulled no punches in his assessment of a shambolic defensive display.
“It is very simple, if you concede three goals in that manner it is very difficult to win any football match, particularly at this level and away from home against a side as good as Cardiff,” he said.
“We never allowed ourselves to get into the game. At 3-1 we had two good chances but I cannot say we deserved anything.
“The damage was self-inflicted, the penalty can happen at any stage but the damage was already done.
“We conceded three poor goals in that crucial period and that is nothing to do with form, formations or tactics. It is about defending well and we did not. It was a good opportunity for us and we did not take it.”
Cardiff had taken the lead in the 16th minute in soaking conditions when Whittingham was allowed to escape the attentions of Steve Sidwell and guided the ball into the bottom corner.
Three minutes later and the size of Brighton’s task doubled. David Stockdale’s woeful clearance fell to Stuart O’Keefe and two passes later Pilkington was stepping inside his marker to hammer home the second.
Just when Hughton thought it could not get any worse, Immers netted Cardiff’s third. Connor Goldson’s tackle on Whittingham saw the ball roll across the Brighton area and the Dutchman was on hand to convert.
Brighton briefly threatened to rally early in the second half when Stephens stole ahead of Matt Connolly and glanced a header beyond David Marshall from the edge of the six-yard box.
Anthony Knockaert and substitute Tomer Hemed spurned chances to pull another goal back and the result was put beyond doubt when Goldson clumsily fouled Pilkington in the area.
Whittingham stepped up and fired the spot-kick into the roof of the net to round off the most impressive performance of Russell Slade’s 16 months at the helm.
“That is a big boost for us and I have told the players I still feel there is plenty of improvement to come,” Slade said.
“I say that because we have new partnerships out there. Stuart O’Keefe and Joe Ralls have not played together that often in midfield, Anthony Pilkington has been up front and we have added new faces to the equation in Tom Lawrence and Lex Immers.
“It is a new team, a young team in certain areas and we are maturing.We committed forward when we had to and we were resilient when we had to be.
“We were tactically disciplined against a side who are king of the counter-attack. If you leave yourself open they can hurt you, the balance was key to this game and we had that.”