Alexis Mac Allister, Joel Veltman, Kaoru Mitoma and Danny Welbeck scored the goals as Brighton & Hove Albion beat West Ham United 4-0 in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
The Seagulls made the breakthrough in the 18th minute through a Mac Allister penalty and then registered three more tomes in the second period to secure all three points in comfortable fashion.
Brighton remain eighth in the Premier League table, now just one point behind sixth-placed Liverpool, while West Ham sit 16th, two points clear of the relegation zone.
The first serious chance of the match arrived in the 11th minute when Solly March weaved his way into a shooting position, but the attacker's effort was kept out by West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.
Brighton were awarded a penalty in the 17th minute of the contest when Jarrod Bowen brought Mitoma to the ground, and Mac Allister blasted his effort into the back of the net to make the breakthrough.
West Ham had two good chances to level half-way through the first period, but Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele made two smart saves, keeping out Bowen and then Tomas Soucek in quick succession.
Just one goal separated the two teams at the interval, but Brighton started the second half on the front foot, with Mac Allister and March both having half-chances to double the home side's advantage.
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Brighton's second arrived in the 51st minute, with Veltman converting at the far post after Mac Allister had met a corner from Pascal Gross.
Areola had to make a smart save to prevent it becoming 3-0 in the 53rd minute, with Evan Ferguson denied during a period of dominance from the home team.
Ferguson had another opportunity just past the hour following a cross from Mitoma, but the striker was just beaten to the ball by West Ham defender Emerson Palmieri.
Brighton took the game away from West Ham in the 69th minute, with Mitoma converting a brilliant cross from Gross after an impressive team move which involved March and Ferguson.
The Seagulls were not finished, though, adding a fourth in the 89th through Welbeck, who drilled one into the bottom corner after collecting a pass from Facundo Buonanotte.
West Ham will now switch their attention to the Europa Conference League, preparing to travel to AEK Larnaca for the first leg of their last-16 clash on Thursday evening, before returning to league action at home to Aston Villa next Sunday.
Brighton, meanwhile, will continue their Premier League campaign away to relegation-threatened Leeds United next Saturday.
Matt Law
