Coventry City 0-5 Brighton & Hove Albion: result and report

Report

Brighton & Hove Albion won 5-0 at Coventry City, the away win that had been expected. Brighton were the better side, though the margin owes a lot to what happened after Coventry City went down to ten men.

Coventry City were still within reach at half-time, because Brighton led only through Charalampos Kostoulas's goal on 35 minutes, set up by Pascal Groß.

The game turned early in the second half. Malick Yalcouyé made it 2-0 on 51 minutes from Maxim De Cuyper's pass. Two minutes later Taiwo Awoniyi was sent off, and Coventry City had to chase the game a man short.

Brighton then pulled away. Groß scored a penalty on 70 minutes. Lewis Dunk added a fourth on 83 minutes from José María Andrés Baixauli's assist. Yasin Ayari scored the fifth four minutes into added time, again from a Groß pass.

Pascal Groß at the centre of it

Groß was the standout player, with a goal and two assists. While five different Brighton players scored, he was directly involved in three of the goals, including the opener that settled a tight first half.

Coventry City: more threat than the score suggests

Brighton's edge in chances was real. They finished with 2.53 xG to 1.50, took 15 shots to Coventry City's eight and created four big chances to one. They also had 69% of the ball.

Still, Coventry City were not overwhelmed in front of goal. They had six shots on target to Brighton's seven and forced six saves. Producing 1.50 xG without scoring suggests a closer contest than 5-0 implies. Three of the five goals also came after the red card, when Coventry City had to commit players forward.