Gómez and Groß score as Brighton beat Brentford 2-0
Attendance 31,629 · Referee Michael Oliver
Brighton & Hove Albion beat Brentford 2-0 at the American Express Stadium with both goals before half-time: Gómez scored in the 15th minute and Groß from the penalty spot in the 42nd. Igor Thiago was sent off in the 23rd, and Brentford finished without a shot on target while Brighton had 20 shots and 75.3 per cent of the ball.
- D. Gómez 15'
- P. Groß 42' (pen)
The match in three moments
- 15'Brighton & Hove Albion
Gómez opens the scoring
Gómez put Brighton ahead in the 15th minute. Brentford's Ajer had already been booked in the fifth.
- 23'Brentford
Igor Thiago sent off
Brentford's Igor Thiago was shown a red card in the 23rd minute.
- 42'Brighton & Hove Albion
Groß scores the penalty
Groß scored from the penalty spot in the 42nd minute, and Brighton went in 2-0 up at half-time.
How the game unfolded
Michael Oliver refereed a 14:00 UK kick-off in front of 31,629 at the American Express Stadium. Fabian Hürzeler's Brighton & Hove Albion lined up four-two-three-one: Verbruggen in goal; Costinha, Vušković, Dunk and Boscagli across the back; Groß and Chema Andrés in front of them; Gómez, Ayari and De Cuyper behind Kostoulas. Dunk wore the armband. Keith Andrews set Brentford out in a four-four-two, with Kelleher behind Kayode, Ajer, van den Berg and Hickey, a midfield of Ouattara, Sangaré, Janelt and Lewis-Potter, and Igor Thiago alongside Schade. Janelt captained Brentford.
Ajer was booked in the fifth minute and Gómez scored in the 15th. Chema Andrés was booked in the 22nd, Igor Thiago was sent off in the 23rd and Boscagli was booked in the 27th. Groß made it 2-0 from the penalty spot in the 42nd, and that was the half-time score.
Both managers changed things at the interval. Hürzeler sent on Wieffer for Chema Andrés, and Andrews brought on Collins for Hickey and Yarmoliuk for Ouattara. Wieffer was booked in the 51st minute. Andrews sent on Diouf for Lewis-Potter and Jensen for Sangaré in the 59th. Dunk was booked in the 61st and Schade in the 69th, and C. Wilson replaced van den Berg in the 70th. Hürzeler sent on Hinshelwood for Ayari in the 78th, Minteh for De Cuyper and Rutter for Kostoulas in the 82nd, and Yalcouyé for Gómez in the 93rd minute.
Brighton kept the ball the way a family keeps the good biscuits: for themselves, 75.3 per cent of the time. They played 651 passes to 215 at 90.6 per cent accuracy against 66.0, had 42 touches in the opposition box to seven and sent in 37 crosses to seven. They took 20 shots to five and put six on target; Brentford put none on target, with three off and two blocked. Brentford made 32 clearances to 18. Expected goals finished 2.20 to 0.73.
Before this game Brighton's form guide listed wins over Getafe and Manchester City (our report), a 2-2 with Manchester City in the League Cup (report), a defeat by Liverpool (report) and a draw with Jablonec. Brentford's guide listed a win over Nottingham Forest (report), defeats by Sunderland in the League Cup (report) and Liverpool, and draws with Hull City (report) and Aston Villa. The red card came in the 23rd minute and the second goal in the 42nd, and Brentford finished without a shot on target and with 32 clearances to Brighton's 18.
Match at a glance
Brighton & Hove Albion / Brentford
Goals and cards, minute by minute
- 5'K. AjerYellow card · Brentford
- 15'D. GómezGoal · Brighton & Hove Albion
- 22'Chema AndrésYellow card · Brighton & Hove Albion
- 23'Igor ThiagoRed card · Brentford
- 27'O. BoscagliYellow card · Brighton & Hove Albion
- 42'P. GroßPenalty · Brighton & Hove Albion
- 51'M. WiefferYellow card · Brighton & Hove Albion
- 61'L. DunkYellow card · Brighton & Hove Albion
- 69'K. SchadeYellow card · Brentford
Match statistics
Brighton & Hove Albion / Brentford
The basics
Expected goals
Attack
Passing
Defending
Physical
Line-ups
Brighton & Hove Albion 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager: Fabian Hürzeler
- 1 B. Verbruggen
- 20 Costinha
- 21 O. Boscagli Yellow card 27'
- 14 Chema Andrés Yellow card 22' Off 46' for M. Wieffer
- 44 L. Vušković
- 5 L. Dunk (c) Yellow card 61'
- 25 D. Gómez Off 93' for M. Yalcouyé
- 13 P. Groß
- 19 C. Kostoulas Off 82' for G. Rutter
- 26 Y. Ayari Off 78' for J. Hinshelwood
- 29 M. De Cuyper Off 82' for Y. Minteh
Substitutes
- 3 J. Hadjam
- 8 J. Hinshelwood On 78' for Y. Ayari
- 24 F. Kadıoğlu
- 11 Y. Minteh On 82' for M. De Cuyper
- 10 G. Rutter On 82' for C. Kostoulas
- 23 J. Steele
- 30 M. Svoboda
- 27 M. Wieffer Yellow card 51' On 46' for Chema Andrés
- 35 M. Yalcouyé On 93' for D. Gómez
Brentford 4 - 4 - 2
Manager: Keith Andrews
- 1 C. Kelleher
- 33 M. Kayode
- 2 A. Hickey Off 46' for N. Collins
- 18 M. Sangaré Off 59' for M. Jensen
- 20 K. Ajer Yellow card 5'
- 4 S. van den Berg Off 70' for C. Wilson
- 11 D. Ouattara Off 46' for Y. Yarmoliuk
- 27 V. Janelt (c)
- 7 K. Schade Yellow card 69'
- 9 Igor Thiago Red card 23'
- 23 K. Lewis-Potter Off 59' for E. Diouf
Substitutes
- 19 J. Anthony
- 22 N. Collins On 46' for A. Hickey
- 25 E. Diouf On 59' for K. Lewis-Potter
- 8 M. Jensen On 59' for M. Sangaré
- 24 M. Damsgaard
- 44 J. Schuster
- 12 H. Valdimarsson
- 13 C. Wilson On 70' for S. van den Berg
- 6 Y. Yarmoliuk On 46' for D. Ouattara
Head to head
Three meetings are listed here, all in the Premier League: Brentford 4-2 Brighton & Hove Albion on 19 April 2025, Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 Brentford on 22 November 2025 and Brentford 0-2 Brighton & Hove Albion on 21 February 2026. That is two Brighton wins and one Brentford win in the listed meetings.
Listed meetings: 3, newest first
- Premier LeagueBrentford0-2Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton & Hove Albion win
- Premier LeagueBrighton & Hove Albion2-1BrentfordBrighton & Hove Albion win
- Premier LeagueBrentford4-2Brighton & Hove AlbionBrentford win
Brighton & Hove Albion
Last 5 games before this one
- WonGetafeAway · UEFA Conference League1-0
- WonManchester CityAway · Premier League1-0
- DrewManchester CityAway · League Cup2-2
- LostLiverpoolAway · Premier League0-2
- DrewJablonecAway · UEFA Conference League0-0
Brentford
Last 5 games before this one
- WonNottingham ForestHome · Premier League2-0
- LostSunderlandAway · League Cup2-3
- DrewHull CityAway · Premier League1-1
- LostLiverpoolHome · Premier League1-2
- DrewAston VillaAway · Premier League2-2
Premier League table
In the Premier League table as it stood at 16:01 on 8 November, with this match included, Brighton & Hove Albion were second on 22 points from 10 games, behind Arsenal on 27. Brentford were eighth on 14 points from 10.
Standings as BBC showed them on 8 November 2026 at 16:01, with this match included. Top 6 and the two clubs in this match. P played · W won · D drawn · L lost · GF goals for · GA goals against · GD goal difference · Pts points.
| # | Club | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 27 |
| 2 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 26 | 7 | 19 | 22 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 21 |
| 4 | Liverpool | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 18 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 19 | 16 | 3 | 16 |
| 6 | Everton | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 16 |
| 8 | Brentford | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 14 |
Where the figures come from
Scores, scorers, statistics, line-ups, head-to-head results and the table come from the BBC Sport match page, accessed . The analysis and wording are The Sports Guru's own. The table is BBC's standings of 8 November 2026 at 16:01, from its match page for Sunderland v Chelsea.