Ipswich had beaten Chelsea 2-0 in their last Premier League home match for their first top-flight win at Portman Road since beating Middlesbrough 1-0 in April 2002 – and would have targeted this game for another valuable three points in the fight at the bottom.
Brighton had not won in the top flight since 23 November with a 2-1 win at Bournemouth, although Hurzeler’s side thrashed Ipswich’s rivals Norwich City 4-0 away in the third round of the FA Cup at the weekend.
In Suffolk, the visitors enjoyed a large part of possession early on, but did not have anything to show for it apart from two tame efforts, one from Mitoma and a header from Pedro, which were easily dealt with by Walton.
Kieran McKenna’s side, in League One two seasons ago, grew into the match, only for Verburggen to make three fine saves to keep out long-range efforts from Nathan Broadhead, Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson.
Those stops, and Burns’ failure to hit the target from 12 yards out when well placed, proved costly.
Walton was also involved in a heavy collision with Pedro with the Brazilian’s late challenge earning the forward a booking and the Ipswich keeper treatment.
And Walton was beaten soon afterwards, a minute before the hour mark, despite getting a hand to Mitoma’s strike.
Ipswich fans would have expected a stronger fightback, but Brighton were the better team once they led, with Verbruggen untroubled in the final 20 minutes.
Rutter’s late effort – taking his tally to three goals in two games after a double at Norwich – ensured the Seagulls winless streak was over.
Town had begun this round of fixtures in the bottom three, only to move out of it on Wednesday on goal difference as Wolves suffered a 3-0 loss at Newcastle.
But Ipswich are now back in trouble and have a tough run of fixtures, which starts on Sunday when they entertain reigning champions Manchester City before a trip to Anfield to face league leaders Liverpool on 25 January.
“It’s a setback, no doubt about it,” said McKenna. “We didn’t find the belief and conviction that the game was still there for us at 1-0 and that’s the disappointing thing.
“We know we have a big game coming up and we have to look forward to these challenges, we can’t step back from it just because it has not gone our way.”
Brighton visit Manchester United on Sunday, looking to build on this success.
