Brighton Beat 10-Man Brentford 2-0 to Move Into Second With Best-Ever Start to a Top-Flight Season
Brighton beat 10-man Brentford 2-0 at the Amex Stadium on Sunday, November 8, to move into second place in the Premier League. Goals from Diego Gomez and Pascal Gross settled the match before half-time. The win lifted Brighton above Manchester City and put them five points behind leaders Arsenal going into the international break.
Brighton now have 22 points from their first 10 league games, with seven wins, one draw and two defeats. It is their best-ever start to a top-flight season. They are also the Premier League's highest scorers, with 26 goals, and they have scored in nine of their 10 matches.
The home side started on the front foot. Maxim De Cuyper had the first chance with a header that went over the bar. The breakthrough came in the 15th minute. Brentford's defence cleared the ball poorly, and Gomez collected it on the edge of the box. He turned and hit a left-footed shot into the top corner. Sky Sports described it as a thunderbolt, and it was another stunning goal from the midfielder.
Brentford's afternoon got worse soon after. Striker Igor Thiago was involved in a tussle with Brighton's Chema Andres and was shown a straight red card for an arm in the face of his opponent. That left the visitors with ten men for most of the game.
Brighton made it 2-0 in the 42nd minute. Keane Lewis-Potter was judged to have pulled down Luka Vuskovic in the box. Pascal Gross took the penalty and sent it high into the net. The contest was effectively over by the break.
Brighton were dominant. They finished with 2.2 expected goals to Brentford's 0.73 and had 73 per cent of the possession in the second half. Brentford had no shot on target, and it was the first time they had been shut out this season.
Head coach Fabian Hurzeler called the display very professional and said his side were dominant in the first 20 minutes. Gross, speaking to Sky Sports, played down talk of a title race and said Brighton are not in one.
Brentford have won just one of their last five league games. They host Everton next. Brighton travel to Hull City after the break.