Roberto De Zerbi has expressed his pride after leading Brighton & Hove Albion to a "deserved" 3-1 victory away against Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday.
Despite making six changes to the side that beat Newcastle United 3-1 before the international break, it did not take long for the Seagulls to find a foothold in the game, and they opened the scoring courtesy of a close-range strike from former Red Devil Danny Welbeck.
VAR intervened to deny Man United debutant Rasmus Hojlund an equaliser on the stroke of half time, before Brighton doubled their lead eight minutes after the interval when Pascal Gross rifled home his seventh goal against the Red Devils.
Joao Pedro netted a third for the Seagulls in the 71st minute, two minutes before Hannibal Mejbri pulled one back for the hosts, but it was De Zerbi's side who ultimately cruised to a statement victory at the Theatre of Dreams.
The Italian boss believes that his Brighton side could have scored more against Man United, but nevertheless was impressed with how his team controlled the contest and 'kept their style' en route to claiming maximum points.
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Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, De Zerbi said: "We played a great, great game. We deserved to win, we played well. In the first 15, 20 minutes we suffered a lot because Man United played in a different way than we prepared for but after that we played a great game.
"I think the game was changed when we kept the ball. In that moment their pressure was strong and to keep the ball helped us to control the game and then we have four attackers who are very fast and very good.
"We have to keep our style when we are losing, when we are winning. We can't forget our DNA because the game can change and it's bad when the result can change our style. We are working to not lose our characteristic, our quality and to score more goals. We scored three but had many chances to score again."
De Zerbi, who took charge of Brighton 364 days ago, has since transformed the Seagulls into one of the most attractive clubs to watch in Europe, and the 43-year-old has admitted that he is both "lucky" and 'honoured' to manage the South-coast club.
"I must admit I feel I know I'm very lucky to be this coach for this team," said De Zerbi. "It's like I dream because I am enjoying it a lot, enjoying to watch my team playing, showing their quality. It's an honour, I'm proud."
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Brighton duo Gross and goalkeeper Jason Steele, who both played the full 90 minutes in the win over Man United, have praised the impact of De Zerbi since he replaced Graham Potter almost a year ago.
"We all enjoy [working with De Zerbi]," Gross told Premier League Productions. "We are really hungry, he is really hungry, everyone tries to get better as a team. We are really lucky to have him and we keep going."
Discussing his rotation between the sticks with Bart Verbruggen, Steele added: "It is different but [De Zerbi] is the boss. He changed my life last season. No doubt about that by having trust and faith in me. Whatever he wants from me I will give him, no problem!"
Having accumulated 12 points from a possible 15 available, Brighton have climbed into the top four of the Premier League, and they will now shift their focus to their first-ever Europa League group-stage game at home against Greek side AEK Athens next Thursday.
Oliver Thomas
