'There were two balls' - Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi addresses Leeds United goal controversy

The Italian did not take issue with the decision to award Jack Harrison’s goal, instead stating his team needed to improve their concentration levels at that stage in the game. Willy Gnonto took a short corner to Harrison who curled his effort into the far corner to chalk off Brighton’s one-goal advantage during the second half at Elland Road. After the corner had been played, a second ball was momentarily on the pitch, which Gnonto quickly removed from the field as Harrison drew level.

Brighton players protested that due to the presence of a second ball, Leeds’ short corner would need to be retaken. Referee Paul Tierney did not agree, displaying what could be described as sensible officiating, as the second ball did not have a material impact on the passage of play.

"I think we lost two points today,” De Zerbi said in his post-match press conference. “We played very well against a good team, an alive team. I'm really sorry for the result, because for the quality of play, the mentality, the performance of my players I am really pleased.

“There were two balls on the pitch but we had to be more concentrated in that part of the game because we had many chances to close the game, to kill the game and we have to learn and improve in this part. When we have to close the game, we must be more tough.

“[My players were] Like lions. In terms of mentality we were fantastic and I think in that part of the second half, also Leeds fans understood the game was very, very difficult for them. For this I told [you] we had the possibility to close the game and maybe in that part we lost two points,” the Italian added.