Brighton moved up to second in the Premier League after cruising past 10-man Brentford at the Amex Stadium.

The Seagulls took full advantage of Manchester City's slip-up at Nottingham Forest on Saturday night to leapfrog Enzo Maresca's side with a sixth win in seven top-flight matches.

After a run of five consecutive away games across all competitions in the last month, it took Brighton only 15 minutes to settle into their familiar surroundings on the south coast, with Diego Gomez opening the scoring with a sensational left-footed strike from outside the area.

Picking up a loose ball 25 yards out, the Paraguayan midfielder arrowed his effort into the top-left corner to leave Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher with no chance.

Gomez's previous goal this season was a spectacular effort from the halfway line against Crystal Palace last month.

Brentford's hopes of earning a first-ever Premier League win at Brighton were dealt a significant blow only eight minutes later when Igor Thiago was sent off for violent conduct.

The Brazil forward was initially shown a yellow card by referee Michael Oliver for clashing with Chema Andres.

However, after Oliver was advised to review the incident on the pitchside monitor, he was left with no choice but to dismiss Thiago after replays showed his arm catching the Brighton midfielder in the face.

It went from bad to worse for the visitors three minutes before half-time when Pascal Gross doubled the home side's lead from the penalty spot after Luka Vuskovic was fouled by Keane Lewis-Potter inside the area.

After failing to register a shot on target over the course of the 90 minutes, a second defeat of the season meant Brentford slipped to eighth in the table.

Could Brighton really do the impossible and win the Premier League this season?

Try telling their supporters otherwise after another impressive performance secured a seventh league win of the campaign and lifted them up to second place, five points behind leaders Arsenal after 10 games.

The Seagulls look unstoppable at the moment. They are the highest scorers in the division and also boast the second-best defensive record.

Their victory over Brentford was made all the more straightforward after the Bees were reduced to 10 men with less than a third of the match played at the Amex Stadium.

Even before that, though, Brighton were clearly the team in the ascendancy and had caused the visitors a handful of problems.

Boss Fabian Hurzeler may not be dreaming of a title challenge just yet, but after another weekend in which his side's remarkable campaign gathered further momentum, it may only be a matter of time before their supporters start to believe the impossible could become reality.