Brighton thrashed 10-man Sheffield United with Simon Adingra in the double | first division

Of all the characteristics that make Roberto De Zerbi's version of Brighton so fun, its unpredictability ranks high.

They are very capable of having horrible days. But, and at a higher frequency, they can also offer 90 minutes of mesmerizing beauty. His Sunday in Sheffield was helped by the most gracious of hosts, certainly the latter.

Facing only 10 opponents for much of the game was, for the most part, similar to a training camp exercise. Facundo Buonanotte and Danny Welbeck scored a couple of quick goals in the first half while, much later, an own goal from Jack Robinson was quickly followed by a double from Simon Adingra. “We want six,” cried the delighted travelers; “We want one,” was the lone cry of one exasperated one. Sheffield United fan in response.

Even by the standards of Brighton's usual high line, having a defensive trio comfortably swapping possession with regularity beyond the opposition center circle was eye-opening.

Pascal Gross spent the afternoon making deliveries with unnerving precision; Kaoru Mitoma danced delightfully to the left; and everything else must have felt like death by a thousand steps for United.

What will frustrate Chris Wilder most is that Brighton have struggled on their travels recently. Half a dozen winless league games included an embarrassment at Luton. Hope then for United? Yes, until, with the game in his childhood, Mason Holgate was sacked so, frankly, anywhere but on a football pitch, he would have seen him in handcuffs.

For all the abuse the home crowd threw in Stuart Atwell's direction as the afternoon wore on, the referee's only real mistake was initially reaching for something yellow. Fortunately, the Var, Michael Oliver, quickly had Atwell connect to the monitor to improve his card choice.

After Holgate's dismissal, Brighton acted quickly and decisively to end the contest. First, Gross kicked a corner toward Lewis Dunk at the far post. He headed towards Buonanotte to finish despite the brave attempts of a United duo on the line.

For his next cross, Gross pulled a wedge out of his bag and launched a delightfully inviting ball for Mitoma to dive towards the far post. Wes Foderingham's palm was strong, as was Welbeck's next volley.

With just four minutes separating those two efforts, Wilder and Alan Knill quickly joined together in grim unison on the touchline. Their discussion during the half-hour concluded with the decision to remove Will Osula, United's only starting striker, and add Auston Trusty as an extra centre-back. No criticism there: it was a game to save face. Or try.

As half-time approached, United almost found renewed optimism when Ben Osborn came in from a corner. At first, Atwell appeared to commit a foul, but was soon invited to look at his monitor again.

In the end the goal was disallowed. For offside. Osborn had positioned himself in front of Bart Verbruggen and, although the finishing touches did not come from the defenders, his proximity to both the goal and the goalkeeper worked against him.

Still, at least in that moment United showed some fight. Not everything was well directed, Vinícius Souza in particular seemed determined to kick everything that came his way. But at least it was something.

However, that flame quickly went out after the interval. Brighton continued their hypnotic pace and it was a little surprising that it took so long for a third to arrive. He came through the unfortunate Robinson, whose attempt to cut out a Mitoma cross went badly wrong.

Three quickly brought four and five. Adingra first found a cross from Gross and then beat Foderingham with the help of a strong deflection from Trusty.

The home fans who endured the entirety of injury time could barely muster the energy to boo at the end. Everyone is very aware that United has a few months left to follow the procedures.