Brighton score four goals in 23-minute blitz to dismantle 10-man Aston Villa

[p]It has been a tough summer break for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/aston-villa/W00wmLO0/"]Villa[/a], with several key players departing the UEFA Europa League champions, and many have predicted a season of struggle for Unai Emery’s men.[/p][p][b]The opening 20 minutes were exactly that as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/torres-pau-francisco/AVUHg8JU/"]Pau Torres[/a] carelessly gave the ball away to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-cuyper-maxim/GGc6kPWT/"]De Cuyper[/a], whose shot inside the box pinged off the post onto [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lindelof-victor/OIp0Le1f/"]Victor Lindelof[/a] for an unfortunate own goal.[/b][/p][p][b]The situation worsened as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rutter-georginio/CS2nVLV4/"]Georginio Rutter[/a] powered through the Villans’ defence with ease, dribbling to the byline and cutting back for De Cuyper to guide home.[/b][/p][embed guid="639a2c51-8dda-48f4-87b8-e87af27477fd" url="https://x.com/BHAFC/status/2091539808849891798" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/brighton/2XrRecc3/"]Seagulls[/a] were relentless going forward and stunned Villa with two more goals in just over 60 seconds around the half-hour mark. The third arrived when De Cuyper’s ball to the back post was nodded back across goal by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gomez-diego/KrSC9Fhb/"]Diego Gomez[/a], allowing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hinshelwood-jack/0IBtygvF/"]Hinshelwood[/a] to head home.[/b][/p][p][b]Hinshelwood was celebrating again seconds later, thanks in large part to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/joao-gomes/rcOLZhUD/"]Joao Gomes[/a], who was dispossessed on the edge of the box, giving the Brighton man the simple task of slotting past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bizot-marco/OlUQhqqo/"]Bizot[/a].[/b][/p][p]Gomes’s PL debut for Villa went from bad to worse when he was shown a straight red card after a VAR review found he had kicked out at Rutter, bringing a devastating first half to a close for Emery’s men.[/p][p]A large contingent of the Villa away support never returned for the restart, but those that remained passionately cheered on their players, hoping for a better showing in the second half.[/p][p]Brighton picked up right where they left off, however, with neat spells of possession cutting through a virtually non-existent Villa midfield.[/p][embed guid="cf01f226-207d-4cf3-939b-ef2ffcfb1da9" url="https://x.com/AstonVilla/status/2091539814478725299" social-type="twitter" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ayari-yasin/vTrnQI0N/"]Yasin Ayari[/a] threatened from inside the box, yet his effort sailed narrowly wide. Bizot was then called into action to make an outstretched save after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dunk-lewis/xEyAI7pm/"]Lewis Dunk[/a]’s cross passed everyone in the box, but the Villa stopper was alert to turn the ball around the post. [/p][p]The Seagulls thought they’d netted a fifth when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kostoulas-charalampos/GA3CqpgC/"]Charalampos Kostoulas[/a] turned in the rebound after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/costinha/lvkt5gdL/"]Joao Costinha[/a]’s strike hit the left post, but the Greek striker was denied by the offside flag.[/p][p]In the end, Brighton coasted through the final half-hour, rounding off a fine afternoon for Hurzeler’s men and providing excellent preparation ahead of their UEFA Conference League play-off second-leg tie against Tromso IL. [/p][image alt="Match stats" id="c56058d8-7167-444b-b62d-35a70a9ff21a" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="96ac394f-7be7-4d98-a937-d39d16e37fda" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]Brighton are now unbeaten in their last six PL openers (W5, D1), while Villa have now started their top-flight campaigns with just two wins in eight attempts since returning to the PL in 2019/20 (D1, L5).[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hinshelwood-jack/0IBtygvF/"]Jack Hinshelwood[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/brighton/2XrRecc3/"]Brighton & Hove Albion[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/aston-villa-W00wmLO0/brighton-2XrRecc3/?mid=Mkz9mcpL"]Click here to see all the stats of the match[/a][/b][/p]