Leon Balogun crowned his first goal in English football with a spectacular strike for Brighton and Hove Albion in a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace with the official man of the match award.
Balogun scored a minute after coming on to put Brighton 2-0 up and although he ended up giving away the penalty that helped Palace reduced the deficit at the end of the game he was still handed the official man of the match award.
Set to play in their next three games following the red card picked up by Shane Duffy in yesterday’s win, manager Chris Hughton admitted after the game that part of his instruction to the Nigerian was to help his team defend and not score.
Hughton however said Balogun’s goal alongside that of fellow substitute Florin Andone were the most important goal in the big win that helped them move to midtable on the English Premier League table.
“I was more concerned with Balogun doing the right things in the opposition box, defending corners and free-kicks, but that was probably the most important goal (2-0)”, Hughton said after the game.
“That made the gap that little bit bigger. Andone’s was certainly the best goal, but Leon’s was the most important.”
