The game kicked off at 14:00 GMT in front of 31,629. Before the matchweek, Brighton were third with 19 points from nine games and Brentford sixth with 14, having lost once in the league. It was Brentford's 200th Premier League game, as Sky Sports and the club's own report noted. Brentford head coach Keith Andrews made one change, Aaron Hickey for Mathias Jensen, and played a 4-4-2 against Fabian Hürzeler's 4-2-3-1.
How the match was won
Maxim De Cuyper headed over from inside the six-yard box in the fourth minute, set up by Gross, and Kristoffer Ajer was booked a minute later for a foul on De Cuyper. All three of Brentford's first-half attempts came between the 12th and 14th minutes: Thiago shot wide from outside the box after a through ball from Sepp van den Berg, Keane Lewis-Potter had a shot blocked, and Ajer headed over from close range after a corner.
- 15' Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 Brentford: Diego Gómez, a left-footed shot from outside the box into the top left corner. Michael Kayode had headed a cross from Costinha clear, and the loose ball fell to Gómez about 25 yards out, according to Brentford's match report.
- 42' Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 Brentford: Pascal Gross, a right-footed penalty into the top right corner. Lewis-Potter had fouled Luka Vuskovic as a corner came in, in the 40th minute.
It was Gómez's second league goal of the season, after one in the 5-0 home win over Crystal Palace on 18 October, and Gross's fourth. According to Sports Mole, the penalty took Gross to 87 Premier League goal involvements, 35 goals and 52 assists, level with Mesut Özil's record for a German player in the competition.
Turning points
Chema Andrés fouled Thiago in the 21st minute and was booked in the 22nd, and referee Michael Oliver first showed Thiago a yellow card for the clash between the two. After a VAR review at the pitchside monitor, Oliver upgraded it to a red card for violent conduct in the 23rd minute. Thiago's arm had struck Chema Andrés in the face, splitting the Brighton player's lip, Sky Sports reported. Announcing the decision in the stadium, Oliver said Brentford's No. 9 had pushed an opponent in the face with force, according to Sports Mole.
At half-time Andrews sent on Nathan Collins for Hickey and Yehor Yarmoliuk for Dango Ouattara, and Hürzeler replaced Chema Andrés with Mats Wieffer, who was booked in the 51st minute. El Hadji Malick Diouf and Jensen came on for Lewis-Potter and Sangare in the 59th, Jensen's 250th league appearance for Brentford according to the club, and Callum Wilson replaced van den Berg in the 70th.
We obviously gave them a leg-up with the sending-off and the penalty.
Keith Andrews, Brentford head coach, via brentfordfc.com
Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher made four saves, from Charalambos Kostoulas in the 17th and 49th minutes and from Yasin Ayari in the 45th and 77th. Brentford had no shot on target, so Bart Verbruggen had no save to make. Their only second-half attempt from inside the box came in the 84th minute, when Kevin Schade shot wide from the center of the box after a break and a Wilson cross.
Brighton committed 11 fouls to Brentford's seven and were booked four times, Chema Andrés, Olivier Boscagli, Wieffer and Lewis Dunk; Brentford's yellow cards went to Ajer and Schade. Hürzeler called the performance very professional and said the red card had helped Brighton, while Andrews pointed out that both of Brentford's defeats this season had come after they went down to 10 men, and said the officials also needed to take a look at themselves, Sky Sports reported.
Brighton vs Brentford: key stats
| Stat | Brighton & Hove Albion | Brentford |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 75.3% | 24.7% |
| Shots | 20 | 5 |
| Shots on target | 6 | 0 |
| Corners | 7 | 3 |
| Fouls | 11 | 7 |
| Yellow cards | 4 | 2 |
| Red cards | 0 | 1 |
| Offsides | 1 | 3 |
| Goalkeeper saves | 0 | 4 |
| Passes (completed) | 651 (590) | 215 (142) |
| Crosses | 37 | 7 |
Brighton had 75.3% of the ball and completed 590 of their 651 passes, 91%, against Brentford's 142 of 215, 66%.
What it means for the table
Brighton move from third to second, on 22 points from 10 games: seven wins, a draw and two defeats. Their 26 goals are the most in the league and their goal difference, +19, the best. All seven league wins came with a clean sheet; going back to last season, Brighton have not conceded in any of their last 10 Premier League wins, beIN Sports noted. At home in the league they have won four and drawn one, scoring 15 and conceding once.
Arsenal lead on 27 points, five ahead of Brighton. Manchester City drop to third on 21 after they lost 3-1 at Nottingham Forest on Saturday, their third straight league defeat; the second was Brighton's 1-0 win at City on 31 October. Brighton are four points clear of fourth-placed Liverpool and six clear of Chelsea in fifth. Gross told Sky Sports that Brighton were not in a title race and were not getting carried away, beIN Sports reported. Our study of whether the team top at Christmas wins the title found that the Christmas Day leader did so in 16 of 31 seasons since 1995-96.
Brentford drop from sixth to eighth, still on 14 points from 10 games: three wins, five draws and two defeats, with a goal difference of +5. It was the first league game this season in which they did not score, and their first away league defeat after four draws; their other league defeat was 2-1 at home to Liverpool on 17 October. They are level on points with ninth-placed Leeds United, ahead on goal difference, four points behind fourth-placed Liverpool and six above Manchester United in 18th. The full Premier League table has the standings after matchweek 10.
What's next: Brighton at Hull, Brentford host Everton
- Brighton & Hove Albion: away at Hull City, Sunday 22 November 2026, 14:00 GMT.
- Brentford: at home to Everton, Monday 23 November 2026, 20:00 GMT.
Both games follow the international break, after which Thiago, who scored 22 Premier League goals last season and has two this season, will miss Brentford's next three matches, against Everton, Manchester United and Arsenal, Sports Mole reported. The rest of the round is on our Premier League fixtures page, and the Premier League simulator lets you play out the rest of the season.
How this report was built: match events, lineups, team stats, attendance, the VAR decision and earlier results come from ESPN's match data; both tables are computed from ESPN full-time results, three points for a win, with all 10 matchweek-10 games included. Context and the quote come from Sky Sports, Brentford FC, Sports Mole and beIN Sports.