Simon Rusk savoured a special night for Albion as European football came to Sussex.
The Seagulls under-23s boss saw his side beat Benfica B 2-0 in an entertaining Premier League International Cup contest.
Viktor Gyokeres (penalty) and Aaron Connolly were on target in the first half-hour before a crowd which included first-team boss Chris Hughton.
Rusk praised “a disciplined, professional performance” and said: “I was really proud of what the players did and it was nice we got a good turnout.
“It’s a great night for development football. You’ve got two good under-23 teams, you’ve got a European side at our wonderful training ground.
“It’s just a great advertisement for how far we have come as a club from an academy point of view.”
Albion spent long periods without the ball but were well structured in a 4-5-1 set-up.
Rusk, who tinkered tactically for the occasion, added: “I thought it was a really, professional disciplined performance and I thought overall we were good for the win.
“There was a lot of discipline, a lot of good individual performances but a really good team performance overall.
“Benfica have got some talented individuals, as have we.
“We knew we would need an element of tactical discipline and how the lads approached the game was excellent.”
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