Getafe 0 Albion 1: Yalcouye's header wins it in Spain

Brighton & Hove Albion^1,2,3,4,5,6 won 1-0 at Getafe in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday night. Malick Yalcouye scored with a close-range header in the 64th minute, his fourth goal of the season. The club says Albion are now fifth in the league phase table.

They have not conceded in five games in the competition, and have lost once in their last 13.

Costinha made the goal, heading the ball into the box from the right. Yalcouye’s header bounced in off the underside of the crossbar. Albion could have been ahead well before that. In the 38th minute Jaouen Hadjam flicked the ball past the hesitating keeper and against the post, and Johan Mojica blocked Yalcouye’s shot from the rebound on the line. Early in the second half Hadjam bent a shot onto the crossbar.

At the other end Bart Verbruggen had one save to make, a close-range shot from Ivan Azon in the first half.

“We didn’t play our best game, to be fair,” head coach Fabian Hurzeler said. He pointed to “the fifth clean sheet in a row in this tournament” and added: “I think we deserved to win this game.”

Albion also have five nominations in the Premier League’s^7,8,9,10 awards for October, and fans can vote until noon on Monday 9 November. The fans’ votes are combined with those of an expert panel.

Hurzeler, who won Manager of the Month for September, is up again after three league wins out of four. One of them was 1-0 at Manchester City, the club’s first away win against City in any competition, at the 18th attempt.

Verbruggen and Luka Vuskovic are both on the Player of the Month shortlist. Verbruggen kept three clean sheets in four league games in October and made seven saves at the Etihad. One of those, from Iliman Ndiaye early in the second half, is up for Save of the Month.

Diego Gomez’s goal in the 5-0 win over Crystal Palace is up for Goal of the Month. He spotted Walter Benitez off his line and shot over him from a yard inside his own half.

The winners will be announced on Friday 13 November. Albion are at home to Brentford on Sunday, and our guide to getting there has the travel details.