Sunderland 0-2 Brighton: Ten-man visitors hold firm before Hadjam seals win

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Brighton overcame Pascal Struijk’s red card to beat Sunderland 2-0, with substitute Jaouen Hadjam sealing victory in stoppage time at the Stadium of Light.

Maxim De Cuyper opened the scoring in the 53rd minute, four minutes before Struijk was dismissed for denying a goalscoring opportunity.

The visitors protected their advantage before Hadjam added a second in the third minute of added time, as recorded in Brighton’s official match centre.

Sunderland 0-2 Brighton: De Cuyper breaks the deadlock

After a goalless first half, De Cuyper put Brighton ahead from Pascal Groß’s assist.

Struijk’s dismissal quickly changed the visitors’ task, leaving them to play more than half an hour with ten men.

Lewis Dunk, named among the substitutes in our confirmed Sunderland–Brighton line-ups, replaced striker Charalampos Kostoulas in the 60th minute.

Costinha and Malick Yalcouyé subsequently came on for Olivier Boscagli and De Cuyper.

Late substitutes combine to secure victory

Sunderland finished with 62% possession and seven corners but managed only three shots on target, all saved by Bart Verbruggen.

Brighton remained dangerous despite their numerical disadvantage, recording 13 shots to Sunderland’s 12 and five big chances to the hosts’ one.

The decisive second goal came from two players introduced in the 88th minute.

Georginio Rutter, who replaced Yasin Ayari, supplied the assist for Hadjam, who had come on for Diego Gómez. Their immediate contribution ended Sunderland’s hopes of rescuing a point.

Boscagli received the match’s only yellow card, while Sunderland finished without a booking.

Supporters can find details of the BBC coverage in our Sunderland–Brighton highlights guide.

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