Brighton & Hove Albion made a stunning start to their Premier League campaign with a 4-0 victory over Aston Villa, giving Fabian Hürzeler his first win against the Villans in five meetings.
Villa’s difficult afternoon began when Pau Torres gave the ball away to Maxim De Cuyper, whose effort struck the post before deflecting off Victor Lindelöf for an own goal. Brighton doubled their lead when Georginio Rutter powered past the Villa defence before setting up De Cuyper to score.
The Seagulls added two more goals within just over a minute. Diego Gómez headed De Cuyper’s cross back across goal for Jack Hinshelwood to finish, before Hinshelwood struck again after João Gomes lost possession near his own box.
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Gomes’ difficult Premier League debut worsened when he was sent off after a VAR review found him guilty of kicking out at Rutter.
Brighton continued to dominate after the break, with Villa struggling to create any threat. The hosts thought they had scored a fifth through Charalampos Kostoulas, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Brighton comfortably saw out the final stages to secure a convincing victory and extend their unbeaten run in Premier League opening matches to six seasons (W5, D1). Villa, meanwhile, have now won only two of their eight opening-day matches since returning to the Premier League in 2019/20.
