‘It doesn’t make sense’: Brighton’s Hurzeler baffled by Carlos Baleba booking

Head coach Fabian Hurzeler says referee Peter Bankes made a “bad decision” by booking Carlos Baleba in the second minute of Brighton & Hove Albion’s 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa.

The early yellow card led to Baleba’s withdrawal in the 22nd minute to avoid the danger of a red card and a record-equalling appearance for his replacement James Milner, who drew level with Gareth Barry’s all-time Premier League high of 653 games.

“It was a bad decision by the referee to give him (Baleba) in that situation a yellow card, a wrong decision for me,” Hurzeler told reporters after the match. “They (officials) need to understand that giving a yellow card mixed up the whole game plan. I saw a lot of similar fouls afterwards without getting a yellow card. It doesn’t make sense. We have to take responsibility, but I think they also have to take responsibility for their decisions.”

Baleba escaped further punishment for catching Amadou Onana late with a challenge in the seventh minute, before the 22-year-old Cameroon midfielder buried his head in his shirt on the bench following his withdrawal. It was the 16th time that Baleba has been substituted in 18 league outings this season and the fifth occasion that the transfer target for Manchester United during last summer’s transfer window has been hooked by half-time.

“We have to avoid a second yellow card, we have to protect a young player,” Hurzeler said. “We have to understand how these things affect a young player. We always see the player and not the person behind it.”

Hurzeler also substituted Jan Paul van Hecke after 61 minutes of the Dutch central defender’s return from a hamstring injury which ruled him out of Sunday’s 1-0 home defeat by Crystal Palace.

“We knew that he couldn’t play for 90 minutes, so that was normal procedure,” Hurzeler said. “We had to take him out after 60-65 (minutes), that was the maximum playing time he was capable of doing.”

Brighton remain 14th in the table after an 86th minute header by Tyrone Mings from a corner took a faint deflection off Jack Hinshelwood to stretch the downturn for Hurzeler’s team to one league win in 13 games. They visit Liverpool next in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday.