Brighton start Premier League season with 4-0 rout of Aston Villa

Brighton launched their Premier League campaign with a dominant 4-0 win over 10-man Aston Villa at the Amex Stadium on Sunday. The Seagulls opened the scoring in the eighth minute when Maxim de Cuyper's shot deflected in off Victor Lindelof for an own goal. De Cuyper then doubled Brighton's lead ten minutes later.

“

Brighton lanched their Premier League campaign with a dominant 4-0 win over 10-man Aston Villa at the Amex Stadium on Sunday.

Europa League champions Villa, who finished fourth last season, saw their challenge collapse as Jack Hinshelwood scored two goals in quick succession to put Brighton 4-0 up by the half-hour mark. The visitors' afternoon worsened when Joao Gomes received a straight red card following a VAR review for an incident involving Georginio Rutter, reducing Villa to 10 men just 40 minutes into his debut.

“

It took the Seagulls just eight minutes to open the scoring as Maxim de Cuyper forced an own goal from Victor Lindelof before the Belgian made it 2-0 10 minutes later.

Despite a promising start from Villa, where Emiliano Buendia narrowly missed the target early on, Brighton capitalized on defensive errors. Pau Torres's misplaced pass led to De Cuyper's initial goal, and a subsequent cutback from Rutter set up De Cuyper for the second. De Cuyper then assisted Hinshelwood for the third goal, with Diego Gomez providing the assist for Hinshelwood's second.

“

Europa League champions Villa, who finished fourth in England’s top-flight last season, then capitulated completely as Jack Hinshelwood struck two goals in as many minutes to put Brighton 4-0 up.

Villa managed to prevent further scoring in a goalless second half, but the damage was already done. The emphatic success marked a strong start to the season for Brighton and manager Fabian Hurzeler's side.

“

To make matters worse for the visitors, Unai Emery’s side were reduced to 10 men following a red card for Joao Gomes, whose nightmare debut only lasted 40 minutes.