Premier League: Brighton 4 [Lindelof 8 og; De Cuyper 18; Hinshelwood 30, 31] Aston Villa 0It is important to say that Aston Villa were not the only team here to have lost key players over the summer; to play under the threat of further departures; to be without others because of injury. It has been a testing time for the Brighton manager, Fabian Hürzeler, who has said goodbye to Danny Welbeck, Jan Paul van Hecke and James Milner, among others.Hürzeler was without Carlos Baleba and Yankuba Minteh, officially because of injuries although their proposed moves to Manchester United and Liverpool, respectively, were surely a part of things. Kaoru Mitoma was out with a more cut-and-dried fitness issue.Villa’s problems have been similar, if a little better documented. The sales of Ezri Konsa, Morgan Rogers, Lucas Digne and Youri Tielemans. The ongoing uncertainty over Ollie Watkins, who is the subject of interest from Al Hilal and seemingly ready to leave. He was not a part of the matchday squad and with Brian Madjo and Tammy Abraham injured, Unai Emery had no available centre forward; he pressed Emiliano Buendía into emergency service in the position. Emiliano Martínez is also set to leave. The marquee signing, Johan Manzambi, is still not fit.Only one club dealt with their problems. It was a red-letter day for Brighton, who began the season with a statement of intent; plenty of hard running and some ruthless finishing, too. Jack Hinshelwood led the way during what was a first-half onslaught, scoring twice while Maxim De Cuyper got one and put another in off the Villa defender Victor Lindelöf.It was a humbling for Villa. Their supporters wanted to remind everybody at kick-off time of how they had won the Europa League in May. They were left stunned by what followed – the four concessions before the interval and the knowledge that the damage could have been much worse. Their one piece of luck was that Brighton did not turn the screw in the second half. Hürzeler’s men had done enough.The symbol of Villa’s wretchedness was the new signing, João Gomes, who was passed fit after an injury concern but proceeded to get himself sent off for violent conduct in the 40th minute at 4-0. The debutant aimed a high boot at the Brighton striker, Georginio Rutter. Gomes might have been dismissed before that. He was horribly off the pace. Then again, he was not alone in Villa colours.When it was all over, the Brighton celebrations exploding around the Amex Stadium, Emery beat a hasty retreat. There was no handshake for Hürzeler, only worry lines across his brow. There is so much for him to ponder.Aston Villa manager Unai Emery consoles João Gomes after he was sent off just before the break at Brighton. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images Brighton’s start was the stuff of dreams, De Cuyper forcing the own goal out of Lindelöf, Villa’s defence in disarray, and it is fair to say that it set a tone. Brighton went from strength to strength; Villa subsided. The jitteriness was everywhere. They fought a losing battle to control their discipline.Hürzeler named three centre halves in his line-up but there was no surprise switch to a back five. Rather he started with Olivier Boscagli at left back, which allowed De Cuyper to play further up the left flank. It was one of the many decisions that paid off handsomely for Hürzeler.Brighton got away with a bit of defensive looseness in the fifth minute, Yasin Ayari robbed by Ross Barkley and Buendía trickling a low shot past the far post. He was well placed with only Bart Verbruggen to beat. When Villa made their first error, they were not so fortunate. It was the prompt for them to fall apart.It was just a dreadful attempted back pass by Pau Torres for the goalkeeper Marco Bizot. The Villa centre half could not have seen De Cuyper, who turned smartly to throw Bizot and open up the shot at the empty net. When the ball came back off the near post, it hit the covering Lindelöf and went in.Brighton wanted it more. They dominated the duels, winning tackle after tackle. The most obvious example during a first half that pounded like a migraine for Villa came on the goal for 4-0, Ayari robbing Gomes on the edge of the Villa area to tee up Hinshelwood for a straightforward finish. Gomes beat the ground in fury. He wanted a foul. It was not there. His afternoon was about to go from very bad to impossibly terrible.Gomes was booked on nine minutes for demanding a yellow card for Pascal Gross, who had fouled him. He was spared a second caution for a foul on Ayari in the 14th minute, which led to a flare-up between the benches. His dismissal – after a video assistant referee review – was a straight red for kicking up and out at Rutter after the Brighton striker had dispossessed him. Rutter was a rampaging presence. All around him Villa shrank.De Cuyper scored for 2-0 after Rutter had sprinted around Torres to cross low – Boscagli sparked the move with a precision long ball – while Brighton’s third showcased their slickness. Luka Vuskovic pinged a lovely diagonal out to De Cuyper, who crossed deep where Diego Gómez headed square for Hinshelwood to nod home. Brighton could have had more by the interval. De Cuyper twice went close. Rutter and Gómez worked Bizot. Emery looked to have had the air sucked out of him.Hürzeler watched his new signing Costinha hit the post with his first touch in a Brighton shirt after coming off the bench; another replacement, Charalampos Kostoulas, put the rebound into the net only to be flagged offside. Ibrahim Osman, who also came on as a substitute, might have had a penalty after a John McGinn body check and it was notable that Emery did not make any changes until the 74th minute. A message to the Villa board? He could not get out of the Amex fast enough. – Guardian