What’s going on on the island? After Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, two of the favorites, already took a fully deserved beating, the next underdog is frustrating the supposedly stronger team on paper.
And “frustrating” is really an understatement. Brighton & Hove Albion were already 4-0 up after just 30 minutes against the reigning Europa League winners and last season’s fourth-placed side, Aston Villa.
Fabian Hürzeler’s Seagulls were ruthless. After an early own goal by Lindelöf, De Cuyper added another in the 18th minute. Homegrown talent Hinshelwood then piled on two more with a quickfire brace after half an hour.
As if that wasn’t already bitter enough, the team from Birmingham then reduced themselves to ten men. João Gomes was shown a red card for violent conduct.
After Unai Emery’s side recently put in a good showing against PSG in the Super Cup, this is a massive blow to start the season. Perhaps the departures of three key starters — Youri Tielemans (move to Man United), Lucas Digne (move to PSG), and Morgan Rogers (move to Chelsea) — will be felt more than initially thought after all.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.
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