Premier League: Brighton goes top after Mitoma, March tear Wolves apart; Clinical Brentford down Fulham

Brighton & Hove Albion went top of the Premier League table with a clinical 4-1 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, after scoring three goals in a devastating nine-minute spell in the second half.

Brighton, which also beat Luton Town 4-1 in its league opener, has six points and a healthy goal difference at the top, while winless Wolves are bottom under new manager Gary O’Neil, who took charge two days before the season kicked off.

Kaoru Mitoma opened the scoring for Brighton in the 15th minute when he went on a mazy run before putting on a sudden burst of speed to race past the last line of defence and curl the ball past the onrushing keeper Jose Sa.

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The Japanese winger turned provider in the first minute of the second half when he pounced on a parried save from Sa, drawing the defence towards him before cutting the ball back for the unmarked Pervis Estupinan to fire home.

Solly March then scored twice in four minutes, with Julio Enciso assisting him on both occasions as they easily got in behind Wolves’ high defensive line and exploited the acres of space at their disposal to make it 4-0 before the hour mark.

Wolves finally got on the board when Hwang Hee-Chan scored with a header from a corner, but their day only got worse when Matheus Nunes was sent off for a second yellow card after taking his frustration out by pushing Brighton players to the ground.

Clinical Brentford win 3-0 at 10-man Fulham

Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo celebrates scoring their third goal.
| Photo Credit:
PETER NICHOLLS/REUTERS

Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo fired Brentford to a 3-0 win at Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday with the host reduced to 10 men from the 64th minute when Tim Ream was sent off after giving away a penalty.

The lively Wissa put the Bees ahead in the 44th minute of their West London derby with a right-footed shot into a gaping goal after Issa Diop was caught napping while attempting a pass back to goalkeeper Bernd Leno.

Mbeumo made it 2-0 from the spot in the 66th, slotting clinically home with Leno barely moving, after captain Ream was ruled to have felled Wissa and collected a red card for his second yellow.

Mbeumo then scored the third with a simple tap-in, assisted by Kristoffer Ajer, two minutes into time added as the unhappy home fans headed for the exits.