Régis Le Bris has just terminated Sunderland star’s contract after flopped and refusing to be substituted
Premier League issue official statement after Sunderland vs Brighton incident
All the reaction from Brighton’s 1-0 Premier League win at Sunderland
Fine margins” is a common phrase from Premier League managers of late and this time a big call went Brighton’s way at the Stadium of Light.
Yankuba Minteh scored the only goal of the game as Brighton secured three wins from their last four Premier League games, and head coach Fabian Hurzeler was pleased with his team’s game-management.
Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris believes the game boiled down to “key moments” as his team slipped to a third straight loss at home.
An entertaining first half saw both sides go close as Jack Hinshelwood was superbly denied by Melker Ellborg and Lewis Dunk made a fantastic goal-line stop from Chemsdine Talbi only moments later.
Chris Rigg denied by VAR
But a major moment arrived when Chris Rigg had the ball in the net for Sunderland early in the second half, but the goal was ruled out by VAR as Omar Alderete was offside in the build-up and Minteh soon struck at the opposite end.
The Premier League Match Day centre posted: “VAR checked the referee’s call of goal – and established that Alderete was in an offside position in the build-up and recommended that the goal was disallowed.”
Minteh back in favour
Minteh was handed his first start this calendar year after being injured at the end of 2025 and following a series of appearances from the bench, Hurzeler was pleased to see the forward take his opportunity.
We know he can do unpredictable things, he has quality not a lot of players have and I’m really happy for him,” the Brighton boss said.
“He overcame a difficult phase he went through, he understood what it needs to come back on the pitch and was waiting for his chance.
“Today he got his chance and he used it in a really positive way.
We have to work with him to keep doing unpredictable things offensively but keep being more reliable defensively, keep doing the easy things right in our half.
“We keep working with him, he understood more and more what it needs to work for the team and not only be a great offensive player, but to be there as a defensive player.
“Therefore he’s going through an interesting process and I’m really happy with how he’s doing it.
“It’s always important when you have tough moments to also have a positive experience and this goal should give him another boost, should give him confirmation that he’s on the right way.”
The Premier League has issued an official statement regarding the Sunderland vs Brighton incident, where Sunderland’s Chris Rigg had a goal disallowed due to Omar Alderete being offside in the build-up. The VAR confirmed the decision, and the goal was not counted ¹.
The match itself ended 1-0 in favor of Brighton, with Yankuba Minteh scoring the winning goal. Sunderland had a few chances to equalize but couldn’t break down Brighton’s defense ².
In a separate incident, the Premier League also released a statement regarding a controversial tackle by Dan Ballard against Brighton, stating that the yellow card given by the referee was confirmed by VAR, as the contact was deemed glancing ³
