Leeds United fans will love what Georginio Rutter did during Brighton's 4-goal Southampton thrashing
Leeds United’s former star piled more misery on one of last season’s Championship promotion rivals.
Georginio Rutter compounded the misery of former Championship promotion rivals Southampton on Saturday as their return to the second-tier edged closer.
Georginio enjoyed another standout performance at new club Brighton and Hove Albion, who he joined in a £40million deal over the summer. The former Leeds United fan-favourite might have stayed at Elland Road were it not for Southampton, who beat Daniel Farke’s side three times last season, including in the play-off final.
Southampton kept Georginio quiet on all three occasions last season but as their Premier League woes continued, the magical forward took advantage, scoring Brighton’s second goal in a dominant 4-0 win at St. Mary’s. And those Elland Road links appeared to resurface as fans spotted the former Whites man appearing to give the Leeds salute to the home crowd.
Saturday’s goal was Georginio’s eighth of the campaign across all competitions, with the 22-year-old finding his shooting boots since swapping Leeds for Brighton in the summer. That tally is an improvement on the seven he hit for Farke’s side last season and speaking after another dazzling performance from the No.10, Seagulls head coach Fabian Hurzeler highlighted the work behind that development.
"I think what he proved to us is that he can work hard and that he's a player who can make the difference,” Hurzeler told Sussex World of Georginio following his side’s comfortable win. "He needed a little bit of time to adapt to the Premier League, to adapt to the intensity, also his body needed a little bit of time, but now at the moment, he's in impressive form.
“He understands the game more and more, he understands his value, he understands how he can use his body against his opponent, and therefore I'm quite happy that he's in our team. That he builds now the connections and the relationships to his teammates. He's starting to hit the target, that's a true thing, and we work hard on these things.
“He works hard on these things because I think he understands now that it's not only about making assists, it's only how I can be more dangerous for the opponent, how can I increase my potential in the opponent's box. How has to be my positioning, how has to be my movement before I receive the ball to score, because in the end I think every player wants to score goals, and he needs to be more present in the opponent's box, and that's what he tried to do.”
Georginio is currently enjoying the best campaign of those who left Leeds in the summer, with his Brighton side now in the race for European football. The same cannot be said for Archie Gray’s Tottenham Hotspur who are down in 12th, albeit the 18-year-old has earned plenty of praise for his performances at centre-back.
Crysencio Summerville was Leeds’ main man last season but since joining West Ham United in a £28m deal, the winger has been mostly on the fringes. Only seven of the winger’s 19 Premier League appearances have been from the start, with just one goal to show for his efforts while a hamstring injury has kept him out since January 10.