Diego Gómez hits another stunner as Brighton beat 10-man Brentford to go second

Who can stop Brighton’s ascension in English and European football? They continue to set standards, practices that leave almost everybody else trailing in their wake. Their second-place position in the Premier League would once have read like a glitch in a Football Manager session.

Come November 2026, they appear the only team capable of throwing down a challenge to Arsenal. Under low winter sun, Brentford, the club Brighton are often compared to, though one with a different outlook, were readily swatted aside. If Keith Andrews’ team, and their fans at the Amex, might level blame at a couple of refereeing decisions, it was a contest they were given little chance of rescuing anything from.