Brighton & Hove Albion 4-0 Aston Villa: Hinshelwood double leads rout in Premier League opener (full match highlights)

On August 23, 2026, at the American Express Stadium in Brighton, the hosts demolished Aston Villa 4-0 in their Premier League opener. Referee Peter Bankes from Merseyside blew the starting whistle at 16:00 Moscow time. Brighton showed high intensity and aggressive pressing from the first minutes, and as early as the 8th minute, Victor Lindelöf opened the scoring with a precise header from a corner kick — 1-0. In the 9th minute, Pascal Groß and João Gomes received yellow cards for a confrontation in midfield. In the 11th minute, Yasin Ayari was booked for a reckless challenge. Brighton continued to dominate and doubled their lead in the 18th minute: Maxime De Cuyper fired home from inside the box after a pass from Jorjinho Rütter to make it 2-0. In the 30th minute, Jack Hinshelwood made it 3-0, finishing from Diego Gómez's left-wing delivery. And just a minute later, in the 31st minute, Hinshelwood completed his brace, scoring his second goal of the match — 4-0 from a corner kick. In the 33rd minute, John McGinn received a yellow card for a foul, and in the 40th minute, João Gomes saw his second yellow and was sent off, leaving Aston Villa with ten men. In the 45+3rd minute, Matty Cash was also booked. Match statistics: Brighton had 58% possession, recorded 17 shots on goal compared to Aston Villa's 6, and completed 84% of their passes against Villa's 71%. This emphatic victory gave Brighton three points and placed them at the top of the table after the first round. Brighton's manager praised his team's perfect first-half performance, scoring four goals and killing the game early. Aston Villa, reduced to ten men after João Gomes' red card, couldn't offer any resistance and suffered a heavy defeat. Hinshelwood, with his brace in the season opener, was the man of the match. Brighton showed they are ready to compete for high places this season, while Villa urgently need to fix their defensive errors.