Brighton 0 Burnley 3: Weghorst, Brownhill and Lennon secure vital win to keep survival dream alive

WOUT WEGHORST proved you can only write Burnley off at your peril as he inspired a precious second league win.

The 6ft 6in monster turned into the Big Friendly Giant as he fought back TEARS of joy from hitting his first Clarets goal following his Deadline Day move.

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January signing Weghorst scores his first for the club[/caption]

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Brighton defender Shane Duffy argues with goalie Sanchez[/caption]

The red hot striker, 29, also assisted Josh Brownhill for the second shortly after a scrap between Robert Sanchez and Shane Duffy.

Aaron Lennon wrapped things up to make it 3-0 and the precious win meant the Clarets moved off rock bottom and leapfrogged Norwich into 19th.

Just last week Brighton fans left Watford singing about a European tour next season – but a 2-0 loss to Manchester United and yesterday’s defeat sent them crashing back down to reality.

It was a bright start for Erik Pieters who sent a cute through ball into the box, but no one was there to make the crucial touch.

Jakub Moder then curled a looping cross into the danger zone, but Danny Welbeck scuffed his footing and was unable to get his shot away.

Connor Roberts then fired a warning shot by cracking the woodwork with a rasping effort from distance. 

Brighton should have seen the opener coming.

It all began with a pretty passing sequence from Nathan Collins, Aaron Lennon and Roberts whose inch-perfect cross fell to Weghorst to rifle home a corker on 21 minutes.

The Seagulls hit back, and Tariq Lamptey fizzed a promising cross to Adam Lallana’s noggin, but his header fell inches wide. 

Frustrations bubbled away among the home side and it all came to boil when Duffy collided with Sanchez when they both tried to deal with a long ball. 

The fuming Seagulls stopper screamed “f***ing listen”, prompting Duffy to shove him in the chest.

As the cracks began to form, Burnley kicked the hosts while they were down.

Weghorst did well to keep the ball up to tee up Brownhill who scrambled home a deflected shot on 40 minutes. 

To rub salt in the wound the visitors were lucky referee Kevin Friend didn’t point to the spot when Lennon pulled over Moder in the box.

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Weghorst celebrates his opener[/caption]

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Brownhill scores Burnley’s second[/caption]

After the break Duffy and Sanchez had a make-up cuddle and high five but the nightmare afternoon continued.

Graham Potter had seen enough and hauled off Lallana and Moder for Solly March and Leandro Trossard before Danny Welbeck made way for debutant Evan Ferguson. 

But the changes didn’t spark any life into the Seagulls, as the visitors had an iron grip on the game.

Jay Rodriguez outmuscled a number of Brighton shirts to slip the ball to Lennon who unleashed a fierce drive into the top corner on 69 minutes to seal the win.

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It was a huge win for Sean Dyche and his players as they move off the bottom[/caption]