Sunderland 0-2 Brighton & Hove Albion: De Cuyper and Hadjam seal win despite Struijk red card
Brighton & Hove Albion won 0-2 at the Stadium of Light despite Pascal Struijk's red card, with goals from Maxim De Cuyper and Jaouen Hadjam.
- Goals from Maxim De Cuyper (53') and Jaouen Hadjam (90'+3) secured the win for Brighton
- Pascal Struijk sent off in the 58th minute after a VAR review
- Brighton held on for over half an hour with ten men to claim an away victory
Sunderland 0-2 Brighton & Hove Albion
Goals: Maxim De Cuyper (53'), Jaouen Hadjam (90'+3)
Brighton & Hove Albion won at the Stadium of Light despite playing more than half an hour with ten men, strengthening their third place in the Premier League table.
The match
Sunderland made an early change in the 35th minute, bringing on Malick Fofana for Thomas Meunier. A minute later, Olivier Boscagli was booked.
Brighton took the lead in the 53rd minute through Maxim De Cuyper. Three minutes later, in the 56th minute, the referee was called to the VAR screen over an incident involving Pascal Struijk. The review led to Struijk's dismissal in the 58th minute.
Down to ten men, Brighton responded with substitutions: Lewis Dunk replaced Charalampos Kostoulas in the 60th minute, followed by a double change in the 68th minute, with Costinha coming on for Boscagli and Malick Yalcouyé replacing De Cuyper.
Sunderland tried to adjust, sending on Jocelin Ta Bi and Dayann Methalie in the 74th minute, and Juan Riquelme Angulo Caiced in the 81st, but could not find an equaliser.
Brighton sealed the result late on. In the 88th minute, Jaouen Hadjam and Georginio Rutter came on, and in the third minute of added time Hadjam, assisted by Rutter, made it 0-2.
The numbers
Sunderland dominated possession (62% to 38%) and committed fewer fouls (8 to 12), but Brighton had the edge in total shots (13 to 12) and shots on target (4 to 3). Corners went 7-5 in Sunderland's favour. There was one yellow card overall, shown to Boscagli, in addition to Struijk's red.
Table and next fixtures
Brighton & Hove Albion move to 10 points from five games (3 wins, 1 draw, 1 defeat, 16 goals scored, 5 conceded), sitting third behind Manchester City (15 points) and Arsenal (13). Sunderland remain on 4 points in 14th place, with 1 win, 1 draw and 3 defeats from five matches.
Next up, on Sunday 18 October 2026 at 15:00 UK time (16:00 CEST): Sunderland travel to face AFC Bournemouth, while Brighton & Hove Albion host Crystal Palace.