Overview
- Brighton beat Sunderland 2-0 at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, with Maxim De Cuyper scoring the opener and Jaouen Hadjam adding a stoppage-time second on his Premier League debut.
- Pascal Struijk was shown a straight red following a VAR review for denying a goalscoring opportunity, forcing Brighton to defend with ten men for more than 30 minutes.
- Sunderland dominated possession after the sending-off but created few clear chances and failed to score, a shortcoming their manager Régis Le Bris described as a lack of efficiency in the final third.
- The victory extended Brighton’s run to three successive Premier League wins and kept them high in the table with multiple clean sheets from six matches.
- The game highlighted Brighton’s squad depth — with a debutant decisive late — and leaves Sunderland nursing attacking injuries and short-term pressure ahead of a midweek Europa League trip.