Brighton beat 10-man Brentford 2-0 to climb to second in the Premier League

Brighton & Hove Albion climbed to second in the Premier League on Sunday, beating 10-man Brentford 2-0 at the American Express Stadium in a win that underlined just how serious Fabian Hurzeler's side have become this season. Diego Gomez's stunning 15th-minute strike and Pascal Gross's penalty three minutes before half-time settled a Matchday 10 contest that swung decisively on a VAR-upgraded red card for Brentford striker Igor Thiago. It was Brighton's seventh win from 10 league games, their best-ever start to a top-flight season, and it lifted them above Manchester City and to within five points of leaders Arsenal heading into the November international break.

The Seagulls returned to Falmer after a draining run of five straight away fixtures in all competitions, including Thursday's 1-0 win at Getafe, and Hurzeler restored the side that had claimed the club's first league win at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium the previous weekend. Any tiredness was quickly forgotten. Brighton controlled the ball from the start, pressed Brentford high, and were rewarded with a goal of rare quality before the first half had reached its midway point.

Gomez lights up the Amex

Gomez struck in the 15th minute, and it was worth the wait for the home crowd. Costinha's cross from the right was headed clear only as far as the Paraguayan at the edge of the area, and after a touch to steady himself he unleashed a thunderous left-footed volley from around 25 yards that flew into the top-left corner beyond goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher. It was Gomez's latest spectacular strike at the Amex, following his goal from the halfway line against Crystal Palace earlier in the season, and it gave Brighton a lead their dominance deserved. Brentford, who had offered little going forward, suddenly faced a long afternoon chasing the game.

Red card turns the tide

The afternoon unravelled for Brentford eight minutes after the opener. Striker Igor Thiago, already booked, caught Brighton midfielder Chema Andres in the face with a raised arm, and referee Michael Oliver initially showed a yellow card before VAR intervened. After a pitchside review, Oliver upgraded the punishment to a straight red for violent conduct, leaving Keith Andrews' side a man short with more than an hour still to play. Brentford's task became one of damage limitation, and they would finish the match without registering a single shot on target.

Down to 10 men, Brentford sat deep and tried to frustrate Brighton, but the hosts kept the ball moving and probed patiently for a second goal. The visitors' resistance held until the closing minutes of the half, when a corner gave Brighton the opening they had been working towards.

Gross seals it and makes history

The decisive moment came in the 42nd minute. As Maxim De Cuyper's corner swung in, Keane Lewis-Potter held Luka Vuskovic, and Oliver pointed to the spot. Gross stepped up and dispatched the penalty emphatically into the top corner, Kelleher diving the right way but unable to reach it. It was the German midfielder's fifth goal of the campaign, and it carried a milestone with it: the strike took Gross to 87 Premier League goal involvements, equalling the record set by Mesut Ozil for the most combined goals and assists by a German player in the competition's history.

Gross, one of the most consistent performers in Brighton's rise, played down talk of a title challenge afterwards, insisting the season was still young and the margins in the Premier League too fine for such talk. His caution was understandable, but the numbers tell their own story: Brighton are the division's highest scorers, with the second-best defensive record, and they sit five points behind Arsenal as the closest challengers to the leaders.

What it means

The second half brought control rather than drama. Brighton managed the game with the patience of a side that knew the points were safe, keeping Brentford at arm's length while searching for a third goal that never quite came. Substitutes offered fresh legs, the home crowd celebrated a seventh win of the season, and the final whistle confirmed a result that had looked secure since Gross's penalty. It was the kind of professional, unspectacular second half that serious challengers are built on, even if nobody at the Amex was willing to say so out loud.

For Brentford, the defeat was only their second in the league this season, but it exposed the cost of indiscipline on the road: they remain eighth on 14 points, still awaiting a first-ever Premier League win at the Amex, and Thiago is reported to face a three-match suspension that would rule him out of the games against Everton, Manchester United and Arsenal. For Brighton, the break comes at the perfect moment, with momentum, belief and a settled side. They return to league action at Hull City on 22 November, five points behind Arsenal and, for now, second in the Premier League.