Four goals in 31 minutes, a red card on 40, and Aston Villa still had 45 more to play

Villa actually started the better side. Emi Buendia created three chances inside the opening ten minutes. Then Pau Torres gave the ball away, Maxim De Cuyper squeezed a shot in off the post and Victor Lindelof, and the afternoon fell apart in a way opening days rarely do.

De Cuyper scored the second himself on 18, turning in Georginio Rutter's cross. Jack Hinshelwood headed the third on 30 and the fourth on 31 — eighty seconds between them.

No striker, and then no Joao Gomes

Unai Emery named no recognised centre forward. Ollie Watkins was left out of the squad altogether with Al Hilal interested in him, and a Villa side already short of a focal point lost its shape entirely once the goals started.

On 40 minutes Joao Gomes kicked out at Rutter and was sent off after a VAR review, which is roughly the summary of the half: 4-0 down, ten men, and no shot on target to point at.

Brighton did not add to it after the break, which flatters nobody. "Clean sheet," said Fabian Hurzeler. "The first minutes we struggled a little bit. But then more and more we got the control." John McGinn was blunter: "The goals we conceded were poor, there's no getting away from that."

Match facts

• 8' — Victor Lindelof (own goal), from Maxim De Cuyper's shot off the post
• 18' — Maxim De Cuyper (Brighton), assisted by Georginio Rutter
• 30' — Jack Hinshelwood (Brighton), header
• 31' — Jack Hinshelwood (Brighton), header
• 40' — Joao Gomes (Aston Villa) sent off after a VAR review
• Aston Villa finished with zero shots on target

What's next

Brighton go to Chelsea on Sunday 30 August, three days after a Conference League play-off — a fixture the league moved for exactly that reason. Aston Villa host Arsenal on Monday 31 August, without Joao Gomes and, on this evidence, in need of a striker before then.

Five matchweeks on

That opening-day rout turned out to be the start of a real run, not a one-off. Brighton lost 4-3 away at Chelsea a week later, drew 1-1 at home with Leeds United, then put five goals past Coventry City away and beat Arsenal 3-0 at the Amex on 19 September. Five matchweeks into the season, Fabian Hurzeler's side sit third in the Premier League table with 10 points from five games, 16 goals scored and only five conceded — five points off leaders Manchester City and comfortably inside the top five that carries Champions League qualification.

Aston Villa's recovery took longer. The week before this game they had already lost the Super Cup final 2-1 to PSG, and the four-goal defeat at the Amex set the tone for a difficult opening month: a 0-1 loss at home to Arsenal, a scoreless draw away at Hull City, then a 1-2 home defeat to Nottingham Forest. Their first Premier League win of the season did not arrive until 19 September, 3-2 away at Tottenham Hotspur. Unai Emery's side have fared better in Europe, beating Club Brugge 3-2 away in the Champions League to sit eighth in that competition. In the Premier League, though, they are 16th with four points from five games — one win, one draw, three losses, and a goal difference of minus five that leaves them just a point clear of the relegation zone.