It has been a tough summer break for Villa, with several key players departing the UEFA Europa League champions, and many have predicted a season of struggle for Unai Emery’s men.
The opening 20 minutes were exactly that as Pau Torres carelessly gave the ball away to De Cuyper, whose shot inside the box pinged off the post onto Victor Lindelof for an unfortunate own goal.
The situation worsened as Georginio Rutter powered through the Villans’ defence with ease, dribbling to the byline and cutting back for De Cuyper to guide home.
The Seagulls were relentless going forward and stunned Villa with two more goals in just over 60 seconds around the half-hour mark. The third arrived when De Cuyper’s ball to the back post was nodded back across goal by Diego Gomez, allowing Hinshelwood to head home.
Hinshelwood was celebrating again seconds later, thanks in large part to Joao Gomes, who was dispossessed on the edge of the box, giving the Brighton man the simple task of slotting past Bizot.
Gomes’s PL debut for Villa went from bad to worse when he was shown a straight red card after a VAR review found he had kicked out at Rutter, bringing a devastating first half to a close for Emery’s men.
A large contingent of the Villa away support never returned for the restart, but those that remained passionately cheered on their players, hoping for a better showing in the second half.
Brighton picked up right where they left off, however, with neat spells of possession cutting through a virtually non-existent Villa midfield.
Yasin Ayari threatened from inside the box, yet his effort sailed narrowly wide. Bizot was then called into action to make an outstretched save after Lewis Dunk’s cross passed everyone in the box, but the Villa stopper was alert to turn the ball around the post.
The Seagulls thought they’d netted a fifth when Charalampos Kostoulas turned in the rebound after Joao Costinha’s strike hit the left post, but the Greek striker was denied by the offside flag.
In the end, Brighton coasted through the final half-hour, rounding off a fine afternoon for Hurzeler’s men and providing excellent preparation ahead of their UEFA Conference League play-off second-leg tie against Tromso IL.
Brighton are now unbeaten in their last six PL openers (W5, D1), while Villa have now started their top-flight campaigns with just two wins in eight attempts since returning to the PL in 2019/20 (D1, L5).
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jack Hinshelwood (Brighton & Hove Albion)