Ten-man Brighton beat Sunderland to strengthen grip on third place

Brighton overcame a second-half red card for Pascal Struijk to beat Sunderland 2-0 at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, strengthening their hold on third place in the Premier League. According to the Guardian’s match report, goals from Maxim De Cuyper and Jaouen Hadjam took Fabian Hürzeler’s side to 13 points.

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Neither team scored before the interval, although Struijk went close to putting Brighton ahead when his header struck a post in first-half stoppage time with goalkeeper Robin Roefs beaten. Sunderland had created earlier opportunities through Enzo Le Fée, whose deliveries supplied Wilson Isidor and Thomas Meunier. Isidor was playing in place of Brian Brobbey, who was absent with a hamstring problem.

The breakthrough came in the 53rd minute after Sunderland failed to clear a long throw. Pascal Gross then played De Cuyper through, and the Brighton player finished first time with a low shot past Roefs. The assist continued Gross’s productive spell: the Guardian reported that the 35-year-old had now been directly involved in seven goals across his last six Premier League appearances.

Brighton subsequently lost Struijk after he brought down Isidor as the Sunderland forward moved towards the penalty area. Referee Tom Bramall did not initially send the defender off, but changed his decision after a VAR review sent him to the pitchside monitor. Struijk was dismissed for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, leaving the visitors to defend their advantage with 10 players.

Sunderland could not turn that numerical advantage into an equaliser. Instead, Brighton substitutes Georginio Rutter and Hadjam combined for the second goal, with Hadjam finishing low beyond Roefs. The result followed Brighton’s 3-0 victory over Arsenal before the international break. Hürzeler emphasised afterwards that his players had believed they could take something from the match, pointing to their ability to keep clean sheets and create scoring chances.

The defeat left Sunderland on four points, with only one league win this season. Régis Le Bris described the contest as tight and intense but acknowledged that his side had not performed at their best, identifying composure as an issue. Sunderland next travel to Portugal for Thursday’s Europa League meeting with Torreense.