BRIGHTON, England — Brighton finished a difficult week on a stylish high by thrashing Wolverhampton 6-0 in the Premier League on Saturday to revive its hopes of qualifying for a European competition next season.
Deniz Undav, Danny Welbeck and Pascal Gross all scored twice as Brighton shrugged off a penalty-shootout loss to Manchester United in the FA Cup semifinals at Wembley Stadium last weekend and another defeat on Wednesday at Nottingham Forest in the league.
Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi made five changes - including resting star midfielders Moises Caicedo, Kaoru Mitoma and World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister - after his team’s tired-looking display at Forest and the injection of freshness paid off.
Brighton stayed in eighth place but moved two points behind Tottenham in fifth, and has two games in hand. Finishing fifth or sixth would secure a Europa League qualification place.
Wolves had won three of their last four games, all without conceding, to go a long way to securing their top-flight safety and looked like it might have eased off subconsciously.
Brighton capitalized, going ahead in the sixth minute when Undav tapped in from Welbeck’s flick for his first league goal in England.
Gross ran through and converted a pass from Julio Enciso with a first-time finish in the 13th and scored his second with the goal of the game in the 26th, teeing up the ball himself and smashing home a swerving volley from the edge of the area.
Welbeck headed in a cross from Pervis Estupinan to make it 4-0 in the 39th and the former England striker curled in from the edge of the area in the 48th after Wolves’ defense failed to clear.
There was an exodus among the away contingent at Amex Stadium after the sixth goal in the 66th, as Matheus Nunes lost possession on edge of the area and Undav chipped stranded goalkeeper Jose Sa.
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