Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 Brentford: result and report

The Pundit picked Brighton & Hove Albion (53%): correct

Report

Brighton & Hove Albion beat Brentford 2-0 at the American Express Community Stadium. The win was expected, and the performance backed it up. Still, Igor Thiago's red card midway through the first half shaped almost everything that followed.

Diego Gómez opened the scoring on 15 minutes. Eight minutes later Igor Thiago was sent off, so Brentford played more than an hour with ten men.

Pascal Groß made it 2-0 from the penalty spot on 42 minutes. Although nobody scored after that, Groß's goal settled the contest before half-time, and he was named player of the match.

Brentford: a long afternoon a man down

Brentford barely threatened, because they spent most of the game without the ball. Brighton & Hove Albion had 75% of possession and 17 shots to Brentford's three. Brentford did not put a single shot on target.

Brentford's xG of 0.77 suggests their few attempts came from reasonable positions, yet none of them tested the goalkeeper. Brighton & Hove Albion created both of the game's big chances, while Brentford managed only four key passes to their opponents' 16.

That marks a clear break from Brentford's recent pattern. They arrived having drawn 5 out of their 5 most recent away Premier League matches, while here they were well beaten.

What the numbers say about the scoreline

The score was a fair reflection of the chances. Brighton & Hove Albion produced 2.66 xG and scored twice. They hit the target six times, while Brentford made four saves and Brighton missed one big chance.

The one caveat is the red card. Because most of this one-sided play came against ten men, it says less about how Brighton & Hove Albion would fare against a full Brentford side.