WOLVERHAMPTON, England (AP) — Brighton achieved its most points in an English Premier League after dominating Wolverhampton 3-0 on Saturday.
Alex Mac Allister recovered from an earlier penalty miss to score from the spot then Leandro Trossard and Yves Bissouma wrapped up the victory. Brighton was up to ninth in the standings with 44 points, its most in the top-flight.
Wolves’ European hopes were dealt a blow after barely threatening Brighton and losing three straight games without scoring. Wolves face a fight to return to Europe with three of their final four games against Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool.
Brighton should have taken the lead after 33 minutes when Solly March’s cross hit Romain Saiss’ arm and, after initially being missed by the officials, referee Simon Hooper was advised to check the monitor and awarded the penalty. But Mac Allister’s spot kick hit the post.
However, Mac Allister was given another chance three minutes before the break when Danny Welbeck went down under pressure from Willy Boly as he chased Lewis Dunk’s free kick into the area.
After a brief argument with Trossard over who should take it, Mac Allister went the same way and, this time, beat Jose Sa to end the Seagulls’ run of three straight penalty failures.
Brighton looked increasingly comfortable but had to wait until the 70th to double its lead. Moises Caicedo won the ball and released Welbeck on the right and Trossard timed his run perfectly to latch onto the striker’s pass and cut inside Joao Moutinho to bury past Sa.
Brighton further underlined its dominance four minutes from time as Marc Cucurella’s cross was cleared only to Bissouma on the edge of the box and his low effort found the bottom corner.
Pedro Neto almost pulled a goal back with the final kick of the game, only to hit the post.
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