Coventry City 0 Brighton and Hove Albion 5
Full marks to the Coventry City fans who sang their hearts out even as their newly promoted side went five goals down – not that Albion’s support was quiet.
Full marks to Brighton too, not just for creating chances but for converting them and building on their two-goal lead when a red card for Taiwo Awoniyi reduced the hosts to 10 men.
Charalampos “Babis” Kostoulas opened the scoring after 35 minutes, having already narrowly missed from close range.
The 19-year-old broke through the Coventry defence and fired the ball inside the left post, leaving former Seagull keeper Carl Rushworth with no chance.
There was no shortage of shots in the first half, 21 in all, even if some were more in hope than expectation such as punt by Olivier Boscagli from inside the Albion half. Coventry had their fair share of attempts on goal.
Six minutes after the break, Albion made their dominance count as Malick Yalcouye doubled the lead from just inside the penalty area.
Two minutes after that, Taiwo Awoniyi was shown a straight red card for elbowing Maxim De Cuyper.
Brighton had already enjoyed plenty of possession although Coventry weren’t giving up without a fight. Kostoulas and Pascal Gross both pressed the home side’s defence.
With just over 20 minutes left on the clock, Albion were awarded a penalty after Bobby Thomas brought down Kostoulas inside the area. Pascal Gross made no mistake, with a confident kick to the bottom right corner.
In the 83rd minute, Albion skipper Lewis Dunk added to Albion’s tally from long range with a thundering blast to the top left corner.
And in stoppage time, Yasin Ayari picked up a pass and shot straight away, blasting the ball into the bottom right corner, sealing a miserable afternoon for the hosts.
Frank Lampard’s side stay anchored to the foot of the table, yet to score and the only side yet to pick up a point.
Albion, with seven points from four games, move up to fourth, above Chelsea on goal difference.
The Seagulls face a tougher challenge next Saturday (19 September) at 3pm when they face champions Arsenal at the Amex. The Gunners have won four from four and currently top the table.
Before then, on Wednesday (16 September), Albion travel to Old Trafford for their third round League Cup tie with Manchester United, with kick-off at 8pm.
