When Brighton staged a stirring comeback at the start of November, beating Manchester City here and moving into the top four, Fabian Hürzeler would have been forgiven for thinking that being a Premier League coach would be a fairly straightforward affair. But after another disappointing performance from his side that saw Brentford remain winless in six games and take only their second away point of the season, the 31-year-old may now have a different opinion.

Despite numerous chances, Brighton were unable to get past Thomas Frank’s strong team, who lost their goalkeeper Mark Flekken to injury in the first half and handed Hákon Valdimarsson his Premier League debut. In the absence of their top goalscorer Danny Welbeck, who is sidelined with an ankle injury, and for all their positivity and possession under Hürzeler, Brighton lacks the excellence in attack that Brentford have once again demonstrated. They haven’t won at home since beating City and it was the traveling fans who finally had something to celebrate at the final whistle.

Brighton this week announced plans to move fans away to boost their fortunes here, with Russ Wood – the club’s head of publicity – admitting their prominent position behind the goal was “not ideal”. However, with that not due to happen until 2027 as part of a £40m expansion of their home stadium, Hürzeler has admitted that performances need to improve quickly in the short term following relegation in the table.

Ever an optimist, Frank previously said this game offered another opportunity to end Brentford’s dismal away streak. But while their owner, Matthew Benham, would have preferred to give his Brighton counterpart Tony Boom a head start, with the feud going back more than 20 years to when they worked together, there appeared to be only one winner in the first half The hosts pulled themselves out of the blocks.

Flekken defended the goal, which had Brentford fans praising Benham, and was almost embarrassed when he passed straight to Carlos Baleba, but Julio Enciso’s shot went wide of the post after being skilfully set up by João Pedro. But the Brentford goalkeeper came to his side’s rescue with saves from Baleba and a close-range header from Enciso after being set up by Kaoru Mitoma. The ball was in the net 30 seconds later when Yoane Wissa met a cross from Mads Roerslev in a rare foray forward for Brentford, only for VAR to rule it out for offside.

Brighton’s attack continued as Brajan Gruda was next to test Flekken with a powerful free-kick before Matt O’Riley’s shot was deflected around the post by the Dutchman. He required treatment on the groin after clumsily clearing a cross from Mitoma and was unable to continue.

That meant a baptism of fire for his successor Valdimarsson, whose only appearances for Brentford so far came in the Carabao Cup. Yet despite the relentless pressure, the Icelandic goalkeeper and his defense somehow held firm until the break as – much to Hürzeler’s frustration – too many of Brighton’s attacks failed.

Some clever footwork from Valdimarsson even helped create Brentford’s best chance of the half when he picked out Roerslev, but Bryan Mbeumo wasted the finish.

Increasingly foggy conditions in the second half made things difficult for both sides and Frank could hardly believe his luck when referee Andy Madley stood in the way of another promising Brentford attack. After the break the visitors were much stronger for Brighton and it took a block from Jan Paul van Hecke to deny Wissa in the penalty area.

Brighton continued to push forward, but João Pedro should have done much better with a shot that dribbled harmlessly into Valdimarsson’s arms. But the longer they waited for the breakthrough, the more nervous the home crowd became, Brentford grew in confidence and an acrobatic volley from Christian Nørgaard was deflected for a corner.

Hürzeler threw on Simon Adingra, Yankuba Minteh and Yasin Ayari to try and regain the initiative, but it was Brentford who almost found a way after a mistake from Baleba allowed Mbeumo to set up Wissa on the counter-attack. João Pedro was lucky to avoid punishment after VAR observed his elbow attempt on Brentford substitute Yehor Yarmoliuk, who failed to make contact before Ayari shot over from close range. There was a warm welcome for Solly March as the striker returned to action after injury for the first time since October 2023, but his wayward try in stoppage time summed up Brighton’s exploits in front of goal.