Both sides have struggled of late, putting the brakes on a potential bid for Europe. But with more potential spots opening up for PL sides, both coaches knew that a win could still keep them in the frame for continental football next season.
And Brentford, whose last home win came back in December, started brightly as Yoane Wissa had an effort saved by the outstretched foot of Bart Verbruggen.
The home side kept pushing and found an opening goal on nine minutes, after a neat spell of possession culminated in Keane Lewis-Potter driving at the heart of the Brighton defence before picking out Bryan Mbeumo, who brilliantly created space and confidently slotted past Verbruggen.
It took until the half-hour mark for the away side to fashion a chance on goal as João Pedro curled wide from the edge of the box.
However, just as it looked like Brentford would take their one-goal lead into the break, Brighton equalised in stoppage time after Danny Welbeck headed home from Mats Wieffer’s dinked ball into the box.
The Bees shrugged off that setback and once again started quickly, restoring their lead within three minutes of the restart.
Mbeumo was on target once again, but this time his left-footed strike took a wicked deflection off Lewis Dunk’s chest on its way into the back of the net.
Thomas Frank’s men were flying and avoided a repeat of the sucker punch they suffered before the break, establishing a two-goal cushion when a swift team move ended with Mbeumo turning provider for Wissa, whose strike deflected in via Jan Paul van Hecke.
The afternoon went from bad to worse for Fabian Hürzeler’s side when João Pedro was shown a straight red card.
After tangling with Nathan Collins, the Brazilian lost his cool and lashed out at the Brentford defender leaving referee Tim Robinson with no choice but to send the striker off.
Despite being reduced to 10 men, Brighton pulled a goal back through Kaoru Mitoma, but their numerical disadvantage meant that Brentford were able to see out the remainder of the contest, and even added to their advantage in stoppage time via Christian Nørgaard’s header.
Victory moves the Bees to within two points of Brighton in the race on the fringes of the European places, as well as ending a five-match winless H2H run.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford)
