Bournemouth 1-2 Brighton: Joao Pedro and Kaoru Mitoma score to give 10-man Seagulls win

Joao Pedro and Kaoru Mitoma scored as 10-men Brighton continued their best start to a top-flight season by holding off Bournemouth in a 2-1 win.

Pedro opened the scoring in the fourth minute when he tapped in after Kepa Arrizabalaga parried away Georginio Rutter’s strike from the edge of the area.

Bournemouth responded well and had the better of the chances in the first half, with Marcus Tavernier and Antoine Semenyo causing concern for goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen with long-range strikes.

But Mitoma doubled the visitors’ lead shortly after the interval, running on to Pedro’s ball before sweeping a shot across Arrizabalaga and into the bottom corner.

Brighton were forced to play the last 30 minutes with 10 players after Carlos Baleba was shown a second yellow by referee Stuart Attwell for a late challenge on Milos Kerkez.

Substitute David Brooks halved the deficit in injury time, but Fabian Hurzeler’s side were able to hold on in a nervy finish that saw Semenyo brush the crossbar with the last kick of the game.

The win moves Brighton up to fifth – joint on 22 points with Chelsea and Arsenal after 12 games.

Bournemouth, meanwhile, drop to 13th following a second straight defeat after they entered the international break on the back of a 3-2 loss to Brentford.

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