Brighton & Hove Albion have moved top of the Championship table for the first time since August courtesy of a 2-0 win over 10-man Leeds United at the Amex Stadium this evening.
The visitors were forced to play more than an hour with just 10 men after Kalvin Phillips was sent off, and penalties from Glenn Murray and Tomer Hemed were enough for the hosts to grab all three points, extending their unbeaten run in the league to 14 matches.
Leeds knew that a victory would be enough to take them third in the table, which would have been their highest league position for six years, but it was Brighton who were the early aggressors with a couple of Oliver Norwood free kicks that flashed just past the far post without getting a touch.
It was another set piece that brought the opening goal midway through the half, and it turned into a double blow for Leeds as Phillips handled Lewis Dunk's header on the line and was subsequently shown a straight red card.
Murray stepped up to take the spot kick, and the striker made no mistake by firing his penalty down the middle for his 12th league goal of the season.
The 33-year-old, who now has six goals in his last six appearances, could have improved that tally further on the half-hour mark when he met Anthony Knockaert's corner at the back post, but he could only plant his header into the side-netting.
Leeds's best chance of the half came in stoppage time before the interval when a mis-hit shot almost turned into a perfect through-ball for Chris Wood, but the 10-goal striker could not get anything on his shot when looking to turn it goalwards.
There was still time in the first half for Murray to draw a routine stop from Rob Green in the Leeds goal, and the former England keeper was in action again after the interval when he kept out a shot from Jamie Murphy.
Leeds continued to struggle for openings as Brighton proved why they boast the best defence in the division, and Shane Duffy was the next to come close for the hosts when his header needed a save from Green.
The Seagulls did finally get their two-goal cushion with just eight minutes remaining, and it was a second penalty of the game courtesy of Kyle Bartley's tug on Dunk inside the area.
Hemed, who had earlier replaced Murray, took on the spot-kick duties and coolly sent the keeper the wrong way while rolling his finish into the bottom corner.
There was no way back for Leeds after that and, despite some late pressure during which Wood nodded wide, they were unable to avoid a sixth straight defeat against Brighton, equalling their worst ever run against any club in league competition.
Brighton, meanwhile are now unbeaten in eight at the Amex and have suffered just one defeat in their last 22 league games in front of their own fans.
The Seagulls have now also kept a league-high 13 clean sheets this season and top the pile until at least tomorrow, when Newcastle United host Birmingham City.
Barney Corkhill
