Sussex | Brighton ease to comfortable win over Leeds

Brighton & Hove Albion 3 - 0 Leeds United

Danny Welbeck scored for the third league match running as Brighton eased past Leeds United to move into the top half of the table.

Author | Jamie Peters

Stadium | Amex Stadium

The 34-year-old opened the scoring after 11 minutes, volleying in from close range to finish a slick passing move involving Yankuba Minteh and Mats Wieffer. It was Welbeck’s sixth goal of the season and his fourth in three league appearances, continuing a fine spell of form.

Brighton were in control from that point, with Diego Gomez marking his return to the starting eleven by adding two goals in six second-half minutes to seal a convincing victory for Fabian Hurzeler’s side.

Welbeck and Minteh both went close to extending the lead, while Leeds offered little threat going forward. Their best chance came just before half-time, when Sean Longstaff’s low strike was blocked by Jan Paul van Hecke inside the area.

The rain poured down at the Amex as the second half began, and the game briefly opened up before Gomez struck twice to settle it. The Paraguay midfielder tapped in after more fine work from Minteh on the right, then fired home a cutback from former Leeds forward Georginio Rutter.

The result gave Brighton their fourth win in 10 league matches and their first clean sheet of the campaign. Leeds, without a league win at Brighton since 2009, stay 16th, five points above the relegation zone.

Footage from Leeds United

Brighton re-group at home

After back-to-back away defeats to Manchester United and a Carabao Cup exit at Arsenal, Brighton were looking to steady themselves back on home soil.

A recurring theme in those losses had been their failure to take their chances. Hurzeler’s side had outshot both opponents (15 to 13 against United and 17 to 13 against Arsenal) yet were beaten by a combined margin of four goals.

When Yasin Ayari broke free of Leeds captain Ethan Ampadu nine minutes in only to fire straight at Lucas Perri, it felt like a familiar story. But two minutes later Danny Welbeck eased those concerns, finishing from close range after Yankuba Minteh’s clever chip over the defence allowed Mats Wieffer to square across goal.

Welbeck, who has also scored twice against Chelsea and Newcastle and found the net at Old Trafford, continues to make a compelling case for an England recall as Thomas Tuchel prepares to name his squad for the upcoming fixtures against Serbia and Albania.

There was further encouragement for Hurzeler as Diego Gomez, starting in place of Maxim de Cuyper, sealed the win with a sharp second-half brace to showcase the cutting edge Brighton have recently lacked.

A second clean sheet in 22 league games was another positive, extending the Seagulls’ unbeaten home run to nine matches.