Brighton and Hove Albion 4 Kauno Zalgiris 0
Georginio Rutter bagged a brace, with Jack Hinshelwood and Matt O’Riley also scoring as Brighton and Hove Albion made light work of their Lithuanian visitors at the Amex.
The result was the perfect start to Brighton’s latest European adventure in the Europa Conference League tonight (Thursday 15 October).
It took a while for the Seagulls to break down Kauno Zalgiris but they then grabbed two goals shortly before half-time and never looked back.
Ibrahim Osman was the provider for Rutter’s opener which survived a video review – and the front man then laid on Hinshelwood in the box for number two in first-half stoppage time.
After the break, Luka Vuskovic came on for Lewis Dunk and Maxim De Cuyper replaced Olivier Boscagli.
Eight minutes after the restart, Osman once again played in Rutter who found space in the box and struck a sharp shot on target to make it 3-0.
Yasin Ayari replaced Pascal Gross shortly before the hour while Promise David came on for Hinshelwood.
Ten minutes later, Younes Ibrahim came on for Osman and within seconds, from a corner, Matt O’Riley headed in Brighton’s fourth goal, with 23 minutes remaining.
It was plain sailing, with Brighton averaging almost 80 per cent possession as they peppered the away goal with a succession of almost three dozen shots and more than a dozen corners.
The crowd held a minute’s applause before kick-off for former Albion midfielder Doug Loft who has died at the age of 39.
The father of two spent three seasons with Albion from 2006 to 2009 during the Withdean years. He died from a “medical emergency” on Sunday (11 October).
