Hinshelwood Stars as Brighton Crush Aston Villa 4-0 on Opening Day

Brighton & Hove Albion kicked off their Premier League campaign in style, dominating Aston Villa 4-0 at the American Express Stadium. The Seagulls were ruthless in the first half and never let up after the break.

Jack Hinshelwood's brace in two minutes capped a blistering spell for Brighton, with Maxim De Cuyper also on the scoresheet after an early own goal by Victor Lindelöf. João Gomes' red card before halftime left Villa with a mountain to climb.

Brighton seized the lead on eight minutes when De Cuyper's effort hit the post and ricocheted in off Lindelöf for an own goal. The second came on 18 minutes, De Cuyper finishing left-footed from close range after Georginio Rutter's carry and assist.

Hinshelwood first met a Diego Gómez pass with a firm header on 30 minutes. On 31 minutes he struck again, this time right-footed, to make it 4-0. Brighton led 4-0 at the interval with a first-half expected goals total of 2.96 to Villa's 0.18.