Saturday 21 October 2017 00:03, UK
Chris Hughton praised his side's defensive display after a first top-flight away win since 1983 catapulted Brighton up to 10th.
A brace from Glenn Murray and a goal from Jose Izquierdo were enough for the Seagulls to comprehensively see off West Ham 3-0 at the London Stadium on Friday, as the Premier League new boys kept their second clean sheet away from home this season.
The result puts Brighton comfortably into mid-table with a healthy five-point cushion on the relegation places.
"I thought it was outstanding," said Hughton. "A huge part of the game is how you defend. You can't stop all the crosses going in - they have really good quality - but you have to defend well. It gives you the platform to have chances yourself and we did that.
"I'm as pleased with the clean sheet as I am with the goals. We used the ball well, nullified the qualities they have and scored good goals ourselves.
"To come away with a clean sheet in this type of environment shows real quality, real discipline."
Brighton were 2-0 up at the break after Izquierdo struck on the stroke of half-time to add to Murray's 10th-minute goal, with the former Crystal Palace striker completing the route with 15 minutes to go to heap more pressure on under-fire Hammers boss Slaven Bilic.
"The first goal settled any nerves the team might have had, and then we put in a perfect performance," said Hughton. "Our centre-halves were outstanding. We had to cope with a lot of crosses and I thought we dealt with them well.
"I've been around in this division long enough to know if you are not on your game, you can lose three, four or five matches on the spin. But we've been in every game so far, and I think if there is any statement, then it's that we shouldn't be frightened of any team."
For Murray, it marked a return to form after injury had dogged much of his return to the top flight, having helped the Seagulls win promotion from the Championship.
"We've been building confidence throughout the season and we feel that this had been coming for a while now," said Murray. "Personally it's been a bit of a bad start, I've had ankle injuries and things like that, so just getting up to speed now.
"I'm delighted to get my chance for the club and I think I've taken it."
