- Brighton & Hove Albion closed the gap on the top seven teams in the Premier League.
- Brighton defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Amex Stadium.
- Roberto De Zerbi’s team came out with a point to make after losing on penalties to Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final last weekend.
With a 6-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, Brighton & Hove Albion closed the gap on the top seven teams in the Premier League.
In a dominating game on a Saturday afternoon at the Amex Stadium, Deniz Undav, Pascal Gross, and Danny Welbeck all scored twice.
Roberto De Zerbi’s team came out with a point to make after losing on penalties to Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final last weekend and then being defeated by Nottingham Forest in the middle of the week. They promptly delivered four goals before halftime.
Brighton’s perfect first half
Brighton celebrate. |PHOTO: FourFourTwo|
After only six minutes, the Seagulls’ unexpected addition to the starting lineup, Undav, opened the scoring with his first Premier League goal for the team from close range. A beautiful cross from the right side by Joel Veltman led to the goal.
After being used as a right-back against Manchester United at Wembley Stadium, Gross was relishing his return to the midfield. He lifted the ball over Jose Sa to double Brighton’s lead after the visitors’ counterattack from a corner caught Wolves off guard. Thirteen minutes later, Gross doubled his own tally with a flawless volley.
The lone chance Wolves had in the first half came from a Matheus Nunes shot inside the box that Jason Steele successfully parried. Wolves appeared to be at Brighton’s stadium rather than at the Amex.
Before the break, Welbeck’s downward header past Jose Sa made things much worse for Wolves. Lopetegui was incensed and argued with several of his players when they approached the sideline during an injury break.
The second half
Undav celebrates with Mitoma. |PHOTO: The Times|
Within three minutes of the second half’s start, Welbeck added to the score, and De Zerbi kept up his relentless pressure as Mitoma, Mac Allister, and Caicedo were brought on. At halftime, Lopetegui made three substitutions, but little changed.
The Wolves’ defence was still being worn thin when Undav added the sixth goal with a deft chip, but after Max Kilman was fouled inside his own area.
While Brighton supporters chanted “Give them their money back” in reference to the visiting supporters who stuck around until the end, Pervis Estupinan and Billy Gilmour both came dangerously close to inflicting more harm on Wolves, who are eight points above the bottom three.
Wolves likely clinched their Premier League survival by defeating Crystal Palace in the middle of the week, but they will want to rapidly reach the 40-point threshold to make amends for this humiliation.
Meanwhile, Brighton will continue to play the games left to try to become the first team in its history to play in Europe.
What next?
On Thursday, Brighton will play top-four rivals Manchester United, and on Saturday at Molineux, Wolves will face Aston Villa.
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