Brighton just keeping getting better and better. Finishing sixth in the Premier League, while selling their best players, usually to Chelsea, does not seem to put any limit on their upward trajectory. Their fans were left singing “We are top of the league” as three goals inside the first 10 minutes of the second half enabled this free-flowing side to embellish their standing.
Solly March scored two of these, following a close-range finish from Pervis Estupiñán and, in the first half, a memorable solo effort from Kaoru Mitoma. Since Roberto De Zerbi was appointed last October, only Manchester City and Liverpool can match the 69 goals Brighton have scored in their 34 Premier League games.
Successive 4-1 victories have reassured them that selling Moisés Caicedo, Robert Sánchez, Alexis Mac Allister and Leandro Trossard need not impede their progress. After all, they recovered from the sales of Ben White and Marc Cucurella, their previous players of the year, to maintain their rise.
Brighton have overtaken Wolves during this period and this was their fourth successive victory over a team that, having alleviated their sense of crisis with a stirring performance in losing to Manchester United on Monday, fell apart after an encouraging first half.
Wolves have also sold some of their best players this summer but, on this evidence, are less well equipped to cope with their succession. To cap a bad day, Matheus Nunes was sent off in the fifth minute of added time for his second caution, foolishly shoving Aaron Webster and Estupiñán.
At least Hwang Hee-chan claimed their first goal of the season and Gary O’Neil was encouraged this performance was “not worlds apart” from the display he orchestrated at Old Trafford on Monday. Since the start of last season, Wolves have the lowest shot-conversion rate in the Premier League. O’Neil wants the team to keep pressing high but, with the risk attached to that positive outlook, accepts his players need to start scoring. “It’s a two-game snapshot for me,” the Wolves manager said. “But to have 38 shots and an xG of four from two games is high.”
The matching 4-4-2 formations and attacking mindsets led to a thrillingly open game awash with space and chances; it also meant taking opportunities was even more pivotal than usual.
Brighton’s slick play has been well-honed and their one-touch football helped keep them one step ahead of Wolves; the other key difference was their ball-carrier-in-chief. Mitoma finished his finest run with a brilliant solo goal, cruising past three defenders before opening his body to score.
Brighton have won their opening away game for the past five seasons; Wolves have failed to win their first home match in this their sixth successive season in the Premier League. If they are to consider rectifying that in 12 months’ time, O’Neil has his work cut out. This was their best lineup and they looked thin, in experience, in cover and depth.
Wolves responded to Mitoma’s opener with a buccaneering half an hour and if Fábio Silva, Pedro Neto, Matheus or Rayan Aït-Nouri had scored when they were in on goal, with the home crowd on the front foot, this could have been a very different game.
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Instead, Brighton scored immediately in the second half. After a Wolves attack, Matheus did not track Estupiñán who scored from Mitoma’s pullback after Danny Welbeck’s shot was parried. Then Julio Enciso twice set up March to score from close range, the first with a gorgeous pass with the outside of a boot from the left, the second after good work by Welbeck.
“Julio was one of the best players on the pitch, if not the best,” De Zerbi said.
