Brighton made a stunning start to the new Premier League season as they dismantled Aston Villa 4-0 at the Amex Stadium, scoring all four goals during a remarkable 31-minute spell in the first half.
Villa initially looked the more threatening side, with Emiliano Buendia testing Bart Verbruggen twice in the opening seven minutes.
However, a defensive error gifted Brighton the lead in the eighth minute. Pau Torres’ attempted pass back to goalkeeper Marco Bizot was intercepted by Maxim De Cuyper, whose effort struck the post before rebounding in off Victor Lindelof.
De Cuyper then doubled Brighton’s advantage after Georginio Rutter found space down the left and rolled the ball across the face of goal for the Belgian to finish.
Brighton were completely in control and added a third in the 30th minute. De Cuyper delivered another dangerous ball into the box, Diego Gomez headed it across goal and Jack Hinshelwood nodded home.
Hinshelwood needed just another minute to score again. João Gomes was caught dwelling on the ball inside his own penalty area and Hinshelwood pounced, stealing possession before finishing past Bizot.
Red card sees Villa spiral
Villa’s afternoon went from bad to worse shortly afterwards when Gomes was shown a straight red card in the 40th minute.
Referee Peter Bankes initially allowed play to continue after Gomes appeared to kick out at Rutter, but VAR sent him to the pitchside monitor before he returned to issue the dismissal.
Brighton went into half-time 4-0 ahead, having produced 2.96 expected goals from open play in the first half.
Villa improved after the restart and managed to limit the damage, although they struggled to create anything of note. Ian Maatsen fired into the side netting before Yasin Ayari headed just wide for Brighton.
The hosts continued to threaten, with Costinha hitting the post shortly after coming on, although the rebound was ruled out for offside.
Brighton made a series of changes during the closing stages, while Villa introduced Tyrone Mings, Lamare Bogarde, Matteo Ruggeri and Alysson Edward as Unai Emery looked to get the game to its conclusion.
There was still time for Osman to create another opportunity late on, but Costinha could not generate enough power on his header to beat Bizot.
