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The Seagulls got all of their goals in the opening 31 minutes, with the floodgates opening after Victor Lindelof's early own goal.

Maxim De Cuyper and Jack Hinshelwood, who scored twice in just over a minute, both got on the scoresheet before Villa debutant Joao Gomes was also sent off before the break in a nightmare season-opener for Unai Emery's side.

Villa started fairly brightly, with Emiliano Buendia – playing as a make-shift striker in Ollie Watkins' absence – sending a low shot just across the face of goal.

But eight minutes in, Villa's defensive troubles started. Marco Bizot was dragged off his line by a loose back-pass, and De Cuyper pounced, hitting the right post with his shot, and Lindelof inadvertently turned it over the line in his attempts to clear it.

De Cuyper got his goal just 10 minutes later, though. A long ball over the top gave Georginio Rutter space to run into, and the Dutchman tapped home from close range after it was pulled back to him.

Hinshelwood got his first on the half-hour mark, ghosting in behind Villa's defence to head in Diego Gomez's nod down under no pressure. 

Just 79 seconds later, he had a second after Gomes had his pocket picked, Hinshelwood picked up the loose ball and slotted a composed finish past Bizot.

Villa's new midfielder's debut was then brought to an end 40 minutes in as he needlessly kicked out at Rutter after being bundled over, resulting in a red card after a VAR review.

Ian Maatsen hit the side netting in a rare Villa attack, but the visitor was lucky not to find itself further behind 65 minutes in. Costinha struck the post with a long-range drive, and Charalampos Kostoulas turned in the rebound, only for the offside flag to cut celebrations short.