Brighton post club record Premier League points tally with win

April 30 (Reuters) - Brighton & Hove Albion outclassed a sluggish Wolverhampton Wanderers sideto earn a3-0 win at Molineux on Saturday and set a club record points tally in the Premier League to leave the hosts' European qualifying hopes in tatters.

A first-half penalty from Alexis Mac Allister along with goals from Leandro Trossard and Yves Bissouma after the break condemned Bruno Lage's team to their fourth league defeat in five games.

Wolves, who have now lost three matches in a row without scoring, mustered their only effort on target in the 84th minute when Willy Boly headed straight at goalkeeper Robert Sanchez after being set up by Pedro Neto.

Graham Potter's Brighton side moved up to ninth place with 44 points and reached their highest ever total in the Premier League with three games still to play. Their previous best came in the 2019-20 season when they finished with 41 points.

"It's a step in the right direction," Brighton defender Lewis Dunk said. "At the start of the year we said the target was to beat last year. We have done it now. We had a rough patch but came out of the back of it.

"We are in a great position now ... It was a great away performance and we have record points in the Premier League now so we are buzzing."

Argentine forward Mac Allister saw his first-half penalty - awarded after a VAR check for handball by Romain Saiss - hit the base of the post but made up for it by scoring from another spot kick minutes before halftime after Boly fouled Danny Welbeck.

Leandro Trossard doubled Brighton's lead after 70 minutes with a composed finish pastgoalkeeper JoseSa while Yves Bissouma, returning to the side after serving a two-game ban, scored from 20 metres to add late gloss to the scoreline.

"We were just recovering from the first penalty. It says a lot about him (Mac Allister) that he has the personality and character again to execute the same penalty," Potter said. "The pressure was on him and he delivered.

"The overall performance was very impressive To score three away from home, especially at Wolves, is fantastic ... The second half display was up another level from the first. We've had some good away days this year. That was up there."

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