Brighton v Aston Villa

Full time at the Amex Stadium, where Brighton’s blistering first‑half surge blew an out‑of‑tune Aston Villa away in a 4‑0 opening‑weekend rout. The damage was done inside an unforgettable 31‑minute spell, sparked by a defensive calamity. Torres surrendered possession cheaply, De Cuyper rounded a stumbling Bizot, struck the post, and the rebound cannoned off Lindelof for the opener. The Belgian then added a second, arriving to smash home Rutter’s ball across the face of goal. Hinshelwood took over from there – first with a cute header, then by punishing Gomes’ hesitation to bag his brace moments later. Gomes’ afternoon collapsed entirely when VAR spotted his kick out at Rutter to award a straight red. Villa stemmed the flow after the break, but Brighton still racked up a towering 3.67 xG to Villa’s 0.31. Hurzeler’s men now aim to seal Europa Conference League qualification against Tromso before heading to Chelsea, while Emery faces a long inquest ahead of hosting champions Arsenal. Thanks for joining us – until next time, goodbye.

FULL-TIME: BRIGHTON 4-0 ASTON VILLA

90'+5'

Yellow Card

Cash is cautioned right at the death for a sliding challenge on the lively Osman.

Even the home fans want the final whistle now, with the second half being an outright no‑contest. Brighton can expect a more ordinary – and perhaps tougher – test when they travel to Chelsea next in the Premier League, after aiming to book their place in the Europa Conference League against Tromso next Thursday.

Five minutes of added time will be played at the end of this one.

SAVED! Osman squares up Cash on the near side, burns past him, and hits the byline. The Ghanaian then floats a superb ball into the middle for Costinha, who climbs well but is simply too far out to generate the power or precision needed to beat the keeper.