Tromso 0-0 Brighton: Hurzeler's side frustrated in Conference League play-off first leg

Brighton were frustrated in the first leg of their Conference League play-off as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Tromso at Romssa Arena. 

Fabian Hurzeler's dominated for large parts of Thursday's contest, but they were unable to find a breakthrough ahead of next week's must-win second leg. 

Brighton had to wait until the 26th minute to register their first shot on target, but Pascal Gross' shot from outside the box was gathered by Tromso goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard. 

Ibrahim Osman, on his Brighton debut, almost gave the visitors the lead soon after, but after striking a venomous shot towards goal on the swivel, Haugaard produced a brilliant stop to ensure the encounter remained level. 

Tromso should have gone ahead five minutes after the restart through Heine Larsen, but after being sent through one-on-one, Bart Verbruggen showcased all of his quality and experience by diving low to his right to keep the ball out. 

Yasin Ayari then forced Haugaard into another smart stop in the 54th minute before Ferdi Kadioglu dragged his effort wide following Olivier Boscagli's inviting corner into the area. 

Brighton dominated from there, but they should have gone behind four minutes from time when Isak Vadebu was put through on goal, but with only Verbruggen to beat, he skewed his attempt over the crossbar as both sides failed to find a winner. 

Osman easy on the eye but concerns in attack for Hurzeler

Despite joining Brighton two years ago from Nordsjaelland, this was Osman's first taste of action for the Seagulls, having spent time on loan at Feyenoord, Auxerre and Birmingham City, and the 21-year-old was easily Brighton's standout attacker. 

Only a fine stop from Haugaard denied him a debut goal, but Osman did everything else right. He finished with team-high totals for touches in the opposition box (12), dribbles (three) and possession won in the final third (three), while only Gross (five) created more chances than his three. 

But apart from that, Hurzeler will be left frustrated with how his team did not find the back of the net. Having allowed Danny Welbeck, the scorer of 14 goals in all competitions last season, to leave for Chelsea, Georginio Rutter, Charalampos Kostoulas and Zadok Yohanna all failed to make an impact up front. 

And it could have been a lot worse for Brighton, too. Tromso finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.36 from their five shots, while also posing a threat late on with their counter-attacks, compared to the Seagulls' tally of 1.61 from their 25 attempts. 

Brighton will now turn their attention to their opening game of the Premier League season against Aston Villa this Sunday, but they will know Tromso will not make things easy for them on the south coast in seven days time.