Brentford 0 Brighton 2: First-half goals condemn Bees to defeat | OneFootball

First-half goals from Diego Gómez and Danny Welbeck saw Brighton and Hove Albion beat Brentford 2-0 in the Premier League at Gtech Community Stadium.

Gómez's controlled effort opened the scoring before Welbeck latched onto a mistimed clearance from Nathan Collins to net from close range, which secured all three points for the Seagulls.

Head coach Keith Andrews made two changes to Saturday's starting XI, with Aaron Hickey and Jordan Henderson coming into the team to replace Michael Kayode and Yehor Yarmoliuk. Kayode was absent from the matchday squad after picking up a knock in training.

James Milner started for Fabian Hürzeler's side, which saw him break the all-time record for the most appearances in the Premier League.

The first real chance of the game came for the visitors. A Brighton corner was flicked on at the near post, falling to the feet of Lewis Dunk. The centre-back's first-time shot had plenty of power on it but was straight at Caoimhín Kelleher, who saved well.

Just a minute later, the Bees had their opening opportunity. Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen came out of his goal to sweep up a loose ball, but his pass went straight to Mathias Jensen. The midfielder weighed up his options, before deciding to shoot from 35 yards out with Verbruggen still off his line; the Brighton keeper backtracked well enough to cover his goal and catch Jensen's effort.

It was an entertaining opening 15 minutes, which ended with Jack Hinshelwood forcing another save out of Kelleher, after he received a pass on the edge of the box from Kaoru Mitoma; the Brighton man's shot was pushed just past the post by the Bees keeper.

Kelleher made another good stop five minutes later when Hinshelwood and Mitoma combined again. The former headed into the path of the latter, who charged into the six-yard box, but his low effort was stopped by the feet of the former Liverpool man from close range.

After a good Brighton spell, Brentford had a great opportunity to take the lead. Henderson clipped the ball over the defence and into the path of Igor Thiago. The centre-forward chested it down at a wide angle inside the penalty area, but lashed his effort over the crossbar.

Vitaly Janelt then tried his luck after a quick free-kick released Dango Ouattara. Jensen received it and, after his cross was deflected to the edge of the area, Janelt's side-footed attempt whistled just over the top of the goal.

A lively first half was added to with two goals, as the Seagulls took an advantage into the break. First, Ferdi Kadıoğlu's effort crashed against the bar before Gómez had time to finish the rebound.

Substitute Collins, who replaced the injured Aaron Hickey just before half-time, was involved in Brighton's second goal. Hinshelwood crossed into the middle, which the centre-back attempted to flick away, but he failed to clear and Welbeck had the simple task of converting from close range.

Thiago had a chance 45 seconds into the second half, when half-time substitute Yarmoliuk whipped a cross into the near post, but the Brazilian's header went just wide.

Collins had a header of his own from a Jensen free-kick 10 minutes later, which also narrowly missed the target.

Jensen was the latest Bees player to have a headed attempt on goal, when Collins aerially flicked the ball to him at the back post, but the Dane's effort was too high.

The Bees kept pushing and another Jensen set-piece almost led to a goal. Thiago headed across goal to Ouattara, who had his back to goal, but his hooked shot didn't trouble Verbruggen.

Ouattara was involved once more when his fantastic pass split the Brighton defence and found Mikkel Damsgaard. The midfielder tried lofting it over Verbruggen, but he didn't get enough purchase on it and it was caught easily by the Brighton keeper.

Verbruggen was really called into action heading into the final stages of the game. Another good Ouattara delivery was directed towards goal by Dunk, but the Seagulls' stopper dived to his right to secure a clean sheet and victory for his side.

Brentford (4-3-3): Kelleher; Hickey (Collins 45), Ajer (Donovan 81), van den Berg, Henry; Janelt (Yarmoliuk HT), Henderson (Damsgaard 67), Jensen; Lewis-Potter (Schade HT), Thiago, Ouattara

Subs: Valdimarsson, Pinnock, Nelson, Furo

Brighton (4-3-3): Verbruggen; Wieffer (Veltman 65), van Hecke, Dunk, Kadioglu; Gross, Milner (Baleba 90), Hinshelwood; Gómez (De Cuyper 76), Welbeck, Mitoma

Subs: Steele, Rutter, Minteh, Boscagli, Howell, Kostoulas

Attendance: 17,163

Andrews on Brighton defeat

Head coach Keith Andrews shared his reaction to Brentford's 2-0 loss against Brighton.

"We’ve set the bar very high with what we’ve achieved so far in our performances and results," said Andrews.

"In the first half, we didn’t hit those levels. We showed a good reaction in the second half and conjured up opportunities.

"We could’ve taken one or two opportunities but unfortunately we weren’t able to do that to make it really uncomfortable for them coming into the latter stages of the game."

On Aaron Hickey, who came off injured late in the first half, and Michael Kayode, who wasn't involved, Andrews added: "We'll see how Aaron is over the next day or two.

"Michael missed out with a knock and we'll see how he is over the next few days as well."

Jensen: We didn't deserve any more

Mathias Jensen has given his thoughts on the Bees' defeat to Brighton.

"We're disappointed, obviously," said the midfielder. "I don't think we deserved any more than that.

"For some reason, it was a bit flat and the energy was a bit low.

"But also they played well - they picked up good positions and it was hard for us to get into the right pressure, like we usually do.

"Unfortunately, there have been a few games this season where it's just not quite worked and we're not doing well enough.

"The first half was one of them; the second half was better but it wasn't enough."