Brighton boss "sorry" over Mason Holgate's Sheffield United red card after Sheffield Wednesday slip-up

Roberto De Zerbi, the Brighton and Hove Albion manager, said he was "sorry" for Mason Holgate's early red card in his side's 5-0 victory at Sheffield United as he would have preferred to play 11 v 11. The Everton loanee saw red after just 13 minutes of the game, wrecking United's gameplan against one of the best technical sides in the Premier League.

Even with the man disadvantage United did not roll over immediately and after going 2-0 down inside 24 minutes, they didn't concede again until the 15 minutes from time. That final portion of the game saw Brighton score three times and reach five goals at Bramall Lane for the second time inside a month, after their 5-2 FA Cup win here.

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But the red card undoubtedly proved important, with Wilder sure that United would have not lost by a big margin had they kept 11 men on the field. And De Zerbi, who initially called United Sheffield Wednesday before quickly correcting himself, said: "We played very well, especially in the first half. It was difficult to find the right moment to shoot and to score. The first half was very good.

"I'm sorry for the red card because I would like to play 11 v 11 and it's not always an advantage with one player more. Especially if the characteristic of the opponent is like Sheffield Wednesday ... Sheffield United. You can find it more difficult to score. The second part of the first half they defended the last 25 metres with all 10 players."

On the red card incident itself, which saw Kaoru Mitoma fouled but not seriously injured, De Zerbi said: "I've not seen the situation back yet. I don't like that situation with the red card because generally it's the development of the play, not an intentional foul. But I don't know because I've not seen it. We needed to kill the game and not concede stupid goals from set-pieces or counter-attacks. We played with more passion in the second half. We had not so many chances to score in the first part but we controlled the play very well."