Brighton scored one of their goals after Virgo had departed and had sufficient presence about them to ward off Sunderland for most of the remainder of the match. This will give them succour while their plans to move to a permanent ground at Falmer are determined by grandiose politicians and inspectors.
Brighton manager Mark McGhee had more immediate concerns once his side were down to 10 men. Virgo flattened Stephen Caldwell early on. The initial impression was that the central defender’s nose had been broken, but he remained on the pitch. On the half-hour, Virgo’s second offence was to up-end Jeff Whitley. There was, tellingly, a complete lack of protest from his teammates when he was sent off.
“I have no qualms about the first booking, but he won the ball with the other challenge,” said McGhee.
By then, Brighton were a goal ahead, Richard Carpenter’s 18-yard drive beating Thomas Myrhe only through a considerable deflection. Creditably, though, they gained a second two minutes before the break when Carpenter’s corner was headed in by Mark McCammon.
What of Sunderland? In the opening minutes Julio Arca cut through the right flank of Brighton and skewed a left-footed shot just wide of Rami Shaaban’s left-hand post, but strangely they were unable to impose themselves on Brighton for some while.
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Numerical superiority inevitably made a difference after half-time, and Sean Thornton’s well-struck drive was fisted away by Shaaban. Sunderland brought on Michael Bridges midway through the second half, but a goal did not come until 10 minutes before the end.
Arca carried the ball deep into Brighton’s defence before picking his spot beyond Shaaban’s left-hand corner. Thornton, who was booked for diving, then struck a post. There were one or two further trying moments for Shaaban, and the only real surprise was that Sunderland failed to test the goalkeeper’s inexperience earlier.
“Brighton chased us and stopped us playing our normal football,” said Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy.
McGhee, meanwhile, spelt out Brighton’s task. “To stay in this division is going to require a monumental effort. If we survive, it will be a great achievement. We will need a huge effort to push us over the finishing line,” he said.
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STAR MAN: Rami Shaaban (Brighton)
Player ratings. Brighton: Shaaban 7, Reid 6, Butters 6, Hinshelwood 6, Harding 6, Hart 6, Carpenter 6, Nicolas 6, Knight 6, Virgo 5, McCammon 6 (Hammond 84min, 5)
Sunderland: Myrhe 6, Wright 6, Breen 6, Caldwell 6, McCartney 6, Whitehead 5 (Brown h-t, 5), Robinson 6, Whitley 5 (Thornton h-t, 5), Arca 6, Stewart 6, Elliott 6 (Bridges 65min, 5)
Scorers: Brighton: Carpenter 26, McCammon 43
Sunderland: Arca 80
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Referee: D Gallagher
Attendance: 6,647