Brighton and Hove Albion star Pascal Groß has admitted he was left annoyed by their Carabao Cup exit to Manchester City this week.
Brighton exited the cup at the Etihad on Wednesday to Enzo Maresca’s side after an entertaining 2-2 draw in normal time.
They had taken the lead in the game through Malick Yalcouyé before Mateo Kovacic levelled in the 40th minute. Georginio Rutter then put them ahead once again only for Vitor Reis to level in the 72nd minute.
Ultimately penalty misses from Yasin Ayari and Lewis Dunk allowed Manchester City to progress to the quarterfinals where they will take on League One Bradford City. They will now be expected to progress to the semi-finals from that.
Annoyed
That is, perhaps, why Groß is feeling so frustrated by Brighton’s exit this week. He knows they were in touching distance of a big achievement.
“Oh, I certainly believe in load management,” he told Sky Germany.
“But this was a huge opportunity for us. If you look at which teams are still in the competition and who has already been knocked out, reaching the quarterfinals was absolutely within our grasp.
“We took the match very seriously, which makes our narrow exit all the more frustrating. We were capable of much more.”
Premier League gap
Brighton now take on Manchester City again in the Premier League on Saturday looking to bounce back from their midweek disappointment.
They’re also looking to build on an impressive start to the season that’s seen them pick up 16 points from eight games so far. Only five points separate them from Arsenal in second and Manchester City, who are top.
But Groß believes that the gap between Brighton and those kind of teams remains bigger than just five points.
“I believe Arsenal and Manchester City are the two strongest teams, with Liverpool also coming back into the mix,” he added.
“That is the absolute highest level. Naturally, we want to test ourselves against sides like these. At the same time, we’re well aware that Saturday’s match will be a completely different affair—there will likely be many different players on the pitch.
“There’s still a bit of a gap, for sure. But we’re trying to narrow it down. We finished eighth in each of the last two years. It’s still very early in the season, but we’ve had a very good start. We want to build on that and keep developing.”
