Nothing, it seems, can stop Brighton right now.
Not Manchester United. Not Arsenal. And not Sunderland, who never looked like breaching a visiting rearguard which comfortably held firm after Pascal Struijk’s controversial 57th-minute red card.
Fabian Hurzeler’s men, who had opened the scoring moments earlier through Maxim De Cuyper, conjured a delightful late second through Jaouen Hadjam to seal another outstanding win.
SEAGULLS CONTINUE TO SOAR
This was Brighton’s fourth straight victory in all competitions and lifted them to within two points of the Premier League summit.
Before the international break, they won 5-0 at Coventry and beat Arsenal 3-0, either side of an impressive 3-2 Carabao Cup victory at Old Trafford.
This latest success was not pretty at times but Hurzeler’s men gradually made their superiority pay.
Maxim De Cuyper was on the scoresheet for Brighton as they moved to within two points of the top of the Premier League
No one can stop Fabian Hurzeler’s side right now, and Sunderland never really got close
In the 53rd minute, effervescent captain Pascal Gross’s intelligent pass found De Cuyper and he drove an excellent, first-time shot past Robin Roefs.
Gross, 35, was named the Premier League Player of the Month for September and Hurzeler smiled: ‘I compare Pascal to a good wine – the older the better. Let’s see how good the wine gets.’
Struijk then saw red after being adjudged to have hauled down Wilson Isidor as he threatened to break clear.
Neither referee Thomas Bramall nor his assistant gave a foul initially, but video assistant referee (VAR) Neil Davies intervened and Struijk was dismissed.
Brighton defended superbly and then hit their hosts on the counter-attack late on when Georginio Rutter’s clever pass found fellow substitute Hadjam and he rifled home a brilliant left-foot finish.
Much is made of Brighton’s ability to cut teams apart with pretty passing but this was a win chiselled on obstinate defending.
Hurzeler said: ‘I sound a bit old school now but there’s a saying ‘defence wins championships’… although I’m not speaking about championships!
‘Defence wins games and we’re known for playing nice football but we don’t want to be this nice club anymore.
‘We want to be a team who plays effective football and this was a good start.’
Pascal Gross (centre) won the Player of the Month award for the league last season and picked up another assist here
Regis Le Bris’ side struggled to make an impact in attacking areas with Brian Brobbey missing
BLACK CATS LACK BITE
With striker Brian Brobbey missing through injury, Wilson Isidor was tasked with leading the line but struggled to make any real impact.
Veteran captain Granit Xhaka also misfired in midfield and next up for Sunderland is a trip to Portuguese outfit Torreense in the Europa League.
Brighton, meanwhile, host Lithuanian side Kauno Zalgiris in the Conference League.
