Brighton climbed to eighth in the Premier League after ending a six-game winless streak with a routine 2-0 victory over struggling Burnley at the Amex Stadium.
Georginio Rutter put the Seagulls in front before the break on a freezing afternoon in Sussex, while Yasin Ayari sealed the points early in the second half to condemn the visitors to yet another frustrating outing.
The defeat left Burnley, second from bottom, still searching for a first top-flight win in 11 matches. Scott Parker’s side remain six points adrift of safety, with their poor run compounded by a long-standing habit of failing to recover once they concede first.
Brighton, who had slipped to 14th after a disappointing December return of just three points from six games, were in control for long spells.
Young forward Charalampos Kostoulas thought he had opened the scoring inside 10 minutes on his first Premier League start, only for a tight offside call to rule out his effort.
The breakthrough eventually arrived in the 29th minute. Ayari’s shot from distance took a deflection off Kostoulas and fell kindly for Rutter, who fired a precise finish into the bottom-left corner from a narrow angle.
Burnley had a brief chance to respond just before half-time, but Bart Verbruggen reacted sharply to block Lucas Pires’ low drive, a moment that proved decisive.
Within two minutes of the restart, Brighton struck again. Ugochukwu lost possession on the edge of his own box, allowing Ayari to dance past Bashir Humphreys and slot a calm angled effort beyond Martin Dubravka.
The Clarets came closest to pulling one back in the 67th minute when substitute Loum Tchaouna headed towards an empty net after Verbruggen misjudged a corner, only for Ferdi Kadioglu to rescue Brighton with a brilliant goal-line clearance off the crossbar.
Pascal Gross received a warm welcome on his return to the club late on, while fellow substitute Maxim De Cuyper went close to adding a third, striking the post with a curling free-kick.
Burnley mustered little resistance in the closing stages as Brighton comfortably saw out the win, finally claiming a first-ever Premier League home victory over the Clarets and reigniting their push up the table.
