Brighton 6-0 Wolves: Deniz Undav, Pascal Gross and Danny Welbeck all score twice to keep European hopes alive

Report and free match highlights as Deniz Undav, Pascal Gross and Danny Welbeck all score twice in superb Brighton performance despite Roberto De Zerbi benching Kaoru Mitoma, Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo; Brighton are one point behind seventh-placed Liverpool with a game in hand

David Richardson

@DRichardson_4

Sunday 30 April 2023 07:15, UK

Brighton put their European hopes back on track by demolishing Wolves 6-0 to record their biggest Premier League victory after scoring four goals in a stunning first-half performance.

Roberto De Zerbi's side put defeats to Manchester United at Wembley and Nottingham Forest behind them in style, despite benching key players Kaoru Mitoma, Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo.

The fresh legs of Deniz Undav saw him poke home the opener before Pascal Gross made it two and then added a third with a stunning volley that found the top-right corner.

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There was still time for Danny Welbeck to add a fourth in the first period with a downward header and he netted the fifth just three minutes after the break, curling in from the edge of the area.

Undav followed suit by grabbing his second and Brighton's sixth, although Wolves were fortunate they were not beaten by more as boss Julen Lopetegui raged at his players from the touchline throughout.

Player ratings:

Brighton: Steele (7), Veltman (7), Dunk (8), Webster (8), Estupinan (8), Gilmour (8), Gross (9), March (8), Enciso (8), Welbeck (9), Undav (9).

Subs: Mitoma (7), Buonanotte (6), Mac Allister (6), Caicedo (6), Ayari (n/a).

Wolves: Sa (4), Semedo (4), Dawson (3), Kilman (3), Bueno (4), Lemina (4), Nunes (4), Neves (4), Neto (4), Costa (4), Gomes (4).

Subs: Podence (5), Toti (5), Hwang (5), Collins (5), Traore (n/a).

Player of the Match: Danny Welbeck

How Brighton hammered Wolves

Undav started the rout in the sixth minute, poking home from close range for his first Premier League goal after Welbeck backheeled the ball into his strike-partner's path, with a long VAR check confirming the opener was onside.

Julio Enciso dazzled throughout and he unselfishly teed up Gross to sweep home for Brighton's second, but Gross saved his best for the third, smashing in a superb volley from 25 yards which found the top corner.

Wolves looked like they were on Brighton's beach rather than at the Amex, their only chance of the half coming through a Matheus Nunes strike inside the box which Jason Steele did well to push away.

It got a lot worse for Wolves as Welbeck's downward header beat Jose Sa before the break and left Lopetegui furious on the touchline, having words with several of his players when they came over during an injury break.

Team news:

Kaoru Mitoma, Alexis Mac Allister, Moises Caicedo, Levi Colwill and Facundo Buonanotte were all benched from Brighton’s midweek defeat at Nottingham Forest.
Adam Webster and Joel Veltman came into the backline with Danny Welbeck, Deniz Undav and Billy Gilmour.
Striker Evan Ferguson remained unavailable after missing the last two games with an ankle problem.
Wolves head coach Julen Lopetegui made two changes from the side that beat Crystal Palace 2-0 on Tuesday.
Pedro Neto replaced Hee-Chan Hwang while Joao Gomes started alongside Diego Costa in attack ahead of Matheus Cunha.

Welbeck continued the rout as he netted just three minutes into the second half and there was no let-up from De Zerbi as Mitoma, Mac Allister and Caicedo were all introduced. Lopetegui made three changes at half-time yet it had little impact.

Undav added the sixth with a delicate chip, but only after Max Kilman had been robbed of the ball inside his own area, as the Wolves defence continued to be run ragged.

Pervis Estupinan and Billy Gilmour both went close to inflicting more damage on Wolves, who are eight points above the bottom three, while Brighton fans chanted 'Give them their money back' towards the travelling fans that stayed until the end.

Lopetegui: I take responsibility, sorry to the fans

Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui: "It is not easy to make an assessment or analysis about the match because it's a very bad day for us.

"We suffered very early, two goals we have to avoid. The first one, we had 10 players behind the ball and we can do better. The second goal, we lose the ball and after that it's hard for us because they have more confidence. Against this kind of team, it's very important to not only do good things but not suffer two very easy goals.

"It has been a very hard day for us but the responsibility is with the coach, me. We are sorry a lot for the fans. We have to be ready for the next fight, we are in the middle of a battle. Today we lost one battle but not the war. We have to continue to achieve our aim.

"We have not done anything yet. We have to get more points to achieve our aim. Today we have played against a very good team and made the task easy for the opponent in the first 20 minutes.

Any signs this performance was coming? "No, I don't recognise my team today. My players are better than they have shown and we have to be aware of that.

"The matches are not about what you have done in the past. We have not competed in the way we can.

"All of us are frustrated and me, as the coach, more than anyone. I am guilty more than ever today. This is my responsibility. In the same way, the players have to know they can do better.

"We have to remember that four months ago we were bottom with five points to the next team."

De Zerbi: The best performance of my career

Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi: "It was the best performance in my career as a coach. I'm used to watching this level of the game, we scored six goals but if we speak about the level of the play, we are playing a very high level of football.

"We have to get used to playing 90 minutes against every team not thinking too much about the result during the game. If we are winning 3-0, we have not changed anything in our head and we have to push again, again, again. This is the most important step for us. When I speak about mentality I'm only focused on it.

"We are enduring a tough period, playing so many games, we are not used to it. It was good and right to give Mitoma, Mac Allister, Caicedo one game to recover. Billy (Gilmour), Undav had the opportunity to show their quality and feel important like the normal first XI.

"Gilmour was the best player on the pitch. After the game, I must admit that possibly in the past I made mistakes with him and Undav because I didn't give them more possibilities to play. It's difficult.

"I have to be proud of my players and the club the same, and the fans must be proud. This victory started at Wembley and not today.

"Today we showed pride, we played well but it's not enough playing fantastic football to win. We suffered a lot after Wembley because we deserved to win. We suffered a lot in Nottingham because we played with our heads still at Wembley.

"Today you watched the reaction, you have to put your attention on this, not only the game. The players are not like the players in the PlayStation or robots, they have a soul and a heart and in those five days they suffered a lot."

Opta stats: Lopetegui concedes six for first time

Brighton scored six goals in a match as a top-flight club for the first time ever, and the first time overall since beating Blackpool 6-1 in the Championship in April 2013.
This was Brighton's biggest winning margin in any competition since November 2006 (8-0 vs Northwich Victoria in the FA Cup) and their biggest win in league competition since February 2000 (7-1 vs Chester City in the fourth tier). Indeed, it's the first time the Seagulls have won a top-flight game by more than four goals.
Wolves conceded six goals in a game for the first time since September 2012 (0-6 vs Chelsea in the FA Cup), doing so in league competition for the first time since March 2007 (0-6 vs Southampton in the second tier).
In what was his 200th top-flight game in charge across spells in England, Spain and Portugal, a Julen Lopetegui side conceded 6+ goals in a top-flight match for the very first time.