Albion 4 Kauno Zalgiris 0: Georginio Scores Twice as Albion Open Conference League Campaign at the Amex
Albion players celebrate with Georginio after he broke the deadlock against Kauno Zalgiris
Brighton & Hove Albion began their UEFA Conference League campaign with a 4-0 win over Lithuanian side FK Kauno Zalgiris at the Amex on Thursday 15 October 2026. Georginio scored twice, with Jack Hinshelwood and Matt O’Riley also on target, and Albion kept a clean sheet in their first league phase match.
The club made eight changes from the 2-0 win at Sunderland the previous weekend, and the Lithuanian Cup winners were facing a Premier League side for the first time. With the club’s next European trip, to Jablonec, only days away, here is how the night played out. We covered the draw in our guide to Albion’s Conference League opponents.
Sources: Brighton & Hove Albion match report, Albion 4 Kauno Zalgiris 0, 15 October 2026, head coach reaction
Georginio breaks the deadlock, with a VAR check
Albion dominated early. The club says they had 84 per cent of the ball after half an hour, yet visiting goalkeeper Tomas Svedkauskas had only been called into action once, to tip a Pascal Gross free-kick over from a tight angle. A Lewis Dunk curler from 20 yards flew just over the crossbar.
The breakthrough came four minutes before the break. Georginio tucked in from Ibrahim Osman’s cutback, although VAR intervention was needed after the goal was initially ruled out.
Hinshelwood marks his return
Hinshelwood made it 2-0 in the final moments of the first half, firing home on his return to action. Albion rotated again at the break, with Vuskovic and De Cuyper replacing Dunk and Boscagli.
Georginio again, then O’Riley
Georginio and Osman combined again after 53 minutes for the Frenchman’s second, in what the club described as a near identical goal to his first. Shortly afterwards O’Riley nodded back across goal and into the bottom right corner from debutant Younes Ibrahim’s cross to make it 4-0.
The Denmark international then saw a diving header from eight yards punched away by Svedkauskas as the hosts looked for a fifth.
What Fabian Hurzeler said
The head coach singled out Georginio’s week in training and the way the squad used the chance to rotate.
“I’m really pleased for Georgi, but in general also for the whole group. We showed a good performance, a very disciplined performance, a performance where we kept a clean sheet and a performance where a lot of players used their opportunities.”
“And this will be key for the season, that we can really rely on each other, that we have players who step up in the right moment, who step up if we need them.”
Fabian Hurzeler, head coach
Before the game he had said he wanted the Amex to become a fortress. “With nice, you win nothing,” he said. “You also need to have the mindset of ‘alright, we are difficult to beat’.” Georginio had also spoken about the squad’s ambitions: “I play football to win a trophy and this year we have an opportunity to do it.”
The Lithuanian view
Zalgiris arrived as Lithuanian Cup winners, having lifted the trophy on the Sunday before. Head coach Zeljko Sopic had been candid beforehand.
“I understand that we are the underdog here, and probably from all the teams in the Conference League they give us very small chances to take some points.”
Zeljko Sopic, FK Kauno Zalgiris head coach, before the match
The Albion team
Source: Brighton & Hove Albion match report
The road ahead in Europe
Albion reached the league phase by beating Tromso in the play-off round. Under the 36-team format each club plays six matches. The top eight go straight to the round of 16, and teams placed ninth to 24th enter a two-legged play-off in February 2027. The club’s fixture list shows the rest of the league phase.
Source: Brighton & Hove Albion fixtures. Kick-off times are those listed by the club.
Between the European dates there is a Premier League trip to Liverpool on Sunday 25 October at 2pm. Three days after this match Albion beat Crystal Palace 5-0 at the Amex: read our Albion 5 Crystal Palace 0 report and our Albion v Crystal Palace preview. For how Albion got here, see how they qualified for the Conference League.
Sources
- Brighton & Hove Albion: Report, Albion 4 Kauno Zalgiris 0
- Brighton & Hove Albion: Reaction, Fabian Hurzeler on winning start in Europe
- Brighton & Hove Albion: Hurzeler, being nice won’t win us games
- Brighton & Hove Albion: Georginio, no big egos key to success so far this season
- Brighton & Hove Albion: Kauno Zalgiris head coach promises that his team will give everything
- Brighton & Hove Albion: fixtures
More Albion stories are under Sport and Football on ImJustBrighton.
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