Welbeck, Gruda strike to give Brighton 2-0 win at Wolves

WOLVERHAMPTON, England :Brighton & Hove Albion claimed a 2-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Saturday thanks to goals from Danny Welbeck and substitute Brajan Gruda, keeping them within touching distance of qualifying for European football.

Brighton moved up one place to ninth on 55 points, level with eighth-placed Brentford.

Should Manchester City defeat Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final this month, an eighth-place finish in the Premier League would secure qualification for the Conference League.

"I think we were up against a good side and they're in good form. We knew we were going to be up against a tough opponent. We had a gameplan and we played it out well," Welbeck told Premier League Productions.

Wolves began well at Molineux but forward Goncalo Guedes, making his first league start since February, was unable to make the most of the two half-chances in the opening 10 minutes.

The visitors thought they had taken the lead in the 23rd minute through a Welbeck volley, but the strike was disallowed after winger Yankuba Minteh was adjudged to have interfered with play while being in an offside position.

Moments later, Brighton were awarded a penalty for a foul by Matheus Cunha on Mats Wieffer, and Welbeck stepped up to put the ball in the net and take his tally of league goals this season up to 10.

"(10 goals) is a good milestone to have and I feel like it could have been more. I'm looking forward to improving. We have two more games left and hopefully I'll get some more," Welbeck added.

Wolves piled on the pressure in a desperate search for the equaliser, with Brighton keeper Bart Verbruggen saving Cunha's long-range shot before palming a dangerous cross away from Jorgen Strand Larsen.

The game swung