Brighton Beat Brentford 2-0 to Go Second as Thiago Sees Red

Brighton beat Brentford 2-0 at the Amex Stadium on Sunday to move up to second in the Premier League. Diego Gomez put Brighton ahead in the 15th minute, Brentford striker Igor Thiago was sent off in the 23rd minute, and Pascal Gross scored a penalty in the 42nd minute to complete the scoring before half time.

The win lifts Brighton above Manchester City into second place. Brentford, reduced to ten men for more than an hour, could not find a way back into the match after the red card and the penalty turned a one-goal game into a two-goal game in the space of twenty minutes.

Gomez strikes first

Gomez opened the scoring in the 15th minute to give Brighton the early lead their start had set up. The goal put Brentford behind in a match that changed completely eight minutes later, and it meant Brighton were already in control of the scoreboard when the game's biggest incident arrived.

Thiago sent off after VAR review

Thiago was sent off in the 23rd minute for violent conduct. He had pushed Chema Andres in the face, and after a VAR review the original yellow card was upgraded to a red card.

The Premier League explanation, announced by the referee, was read out as follows: "After review, Brentford No.9 pushes his opponent in the face with force. Yellow card is cancelled and the final decision is red card."

Thiago now faces a three-match suspension for violent conduct, according to reports from talkSPORT and The Sun. The suspension would rule Brentford's No.9 out of the club's next three matches, on top of the 67 minutes his team had to play a man short on Sunday.

Gross penalty makes it two

Brighton doubled the lead in the 42nd minute. Keane Lewis-Potter fouled Luka Vuskovic, and Gross scored from the penalty spot to make it 2-0.

The timing hurt Brentford twice over. The penalty came nineteen minutes after the red card, close enough to half time that Brentford had no realistic route back into the game, and it rewarded Brighton for pressing home their advantage in numbers while they had it.

Second place for Brighton

The second half brought no further goals, and Brighton closed out a 2-0 win that moves them up to second in the Premier League, leapfrogging Manchester City.

For Brentford, the match is defined by the red card. They conceded the first goal with eleven men on the pitch, then lost Thiago in the 23rd minute and conceded the penalty nineteen minutes after that. Playing the final 67 minutes with ten men, away from home and two goals down by half time, left them with too much to recover.

Brighton, by contrast, took the three points with a goal in open play, a penalty, and a clean sheet, and they end the day second in the table.