Gómez Thunderbolt and Groß Penalty Lift Brighton to Second as 10-Man Brentford Are Beaten 2-0

There are goals that change a game, and then there are goals that make a whole stadium stop and stare. Diego Gómez produced the second kind on Sunday afternoon, and by the time the Amex had finished roaring, Brighton were on their way to second place in the Premier League.

Fifteen minutes had gone when Costinha's cross from the right was only half cleared by Brentford defender Michael Kayode. The ball dropped to Gómez on the edge of the area, and the Paraguay international did not hesitate. Two touches, a swing of that left foot, and the ball was screaming into the top left corner from more than 25 yards out. Caoimhín Kelleher barely moved. It was the sort of strike that gets replayed all week, and for Gómez it was becoming a habit — three weeks earlier he had scored from the halfway line in the 5-0 demolition of Crystal Palace.

Brighton had come home after a gruelling stretch. Since that Palace win they had clocked up thousands of miles: Conference League fixtures in Czechia and Spain, a trip to Liverpool, two visits to Manchester City. Thursday had brought a 1-0 win away at Getafe, and head coach Fabian Hurzeler sent out the same side that had claimed the club's first ever league victory at the Etihad last weekend.

Brentford's afternoon then unravelled in the space of eight minutes. Striker Igor Thiago, who had earlier lobbed tamely at Bart Verbruggen, reacted angrily when Brighton midfielder Chema Andres pulled his shirt and then pushed him. Referee Michael Oliver initially booked both men. But a trip to the pitch-side monitor changed everything: replays showed Thiago catching Andres in the face with a raised arm, with force, and Oliver upgraded the yellow to a straight red. Thiago left the pitch with a wry smile. Brentford, chasing a first Premier League win away to the Seagulls, were down to ten men after 24 minutes.

The Bees still had not folded when the decisive second blow arrived three minutes before half-time. Keane Lewis-Potter hauled down Luka Vuskovic at a corner, Oliver pointed straight to the spot, and Pascal Groß did the rest, hammering his penalty high into the top-right corner. It was Groß's 87th Premier League goal involvement, a tally that equals the record set by Mesut Özil. Brentford did not manage a single attempt on target all game.

The second half drifted at a low tempo, with a couple of flashpoints to keep the crowd interested. Brighton captain Lewis Dunk was booked for scything down Kevin Schade, and Schade collected a yellow of his own for a shove on Vuskovic before failing to connect properly with a Callum Wilson cross. Five minutes of added time came and went without Brentford ever threatening to make the home fans nervous.

The numbers tell the story of Brighton's season so far. This was a seventh win from ten top-flight games, and it lifted the Seagulls above Manchester City and back to within five points of leaders Arsenal heading into the November international break. Brentford, playing their 200th Premier League match, stay eighth on 14 points. For a club that has spent the autumn criss-crossing Europe and still kept winning, second place feels less like a surprise and more like a statement. The question now is whether anyone still wants to call them outsiders.