EPL: Awoniyi Sent Off as Brighton Thrash Coventry 5-0

Brighton & Hove Albion recorded their biggest win of the Premier League season so far, thrashing Coventry City 5-0 at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Sunday.

Charalampos Kostoulas opened the scoring in the 35th minute, finishing calmly inside the penalty area to give Brighton a deserved lead.

The visitors continued to control the match after the break and doubled their advantage in the 51st minute through Malick Yalcouyé.

Coventry’s hopes of mounting a comeback suffered a major blow when Nigerian striker Taiwo Awoniyi was shown a straight red card for violent conduct.

Awoniyi was dismissed after catching Brighton defender Maxim De Cuyper in the face with his elbow during an aerial challenge. The decision was reviewed but the red card was upheld.

Playing against 10 men, Brighton took full advantage of their numerical superiority.

Pascal Groß converted a penalty in the 70th minute after Coventry defender Bobby Thomas was penalised for a foul on Kostoulas.

Lewis Dunk then produced one of the outstanding moments of the match, unleashing a spectacular long-range strike in the 83rd minute to make it 4-0.

Yasin Ayari completed the rout in stoppage time, curling a fine effort into the bottom corner after combining with Groß.

The victory moved Brighton up to fourth in the Premier League standings, while Coventry remained without a point or goal after four matches.

The defeat also made Coventry only the second team in Premier League history to lose each of their opening four matches without scoring.

For Brighton manager Fabian Hürzeler, the result further underlined his side’s attacking strength. Brighton have now scored 13 goals in their opening four league matches.

For Awoniyi and Coventry, however, the afternoon ended in frustration as their difficult return to the Premier League continued with another heavy defeat.