Brentford were beaten 2-1 by Brighton and Hove Albion in another entertaining clash between the two sides at Amex Stadium.

A Bryan Mbeumo penalty put the visitors ahead in the first half, before a Pascal Groß strike from outside the area levelled for the Seagulls soon after.

Full-back Jack Hinshelwood netted the decider seven minutes after the break, as he rose highest inside the penalty area to head home the winner.

Mbeumo opens scoring then worryingly limps off

The first real opening for either side came on 20 minutes, as Hinshelwood peeled off his marker, and a clever ball from Billy Gilmour played in the youngster.

Heading towards the touchline, he cut the ball back to his fellow full-back Groß, whose effort took a small deflection on its way wide.

From the following corner, Simon Adringa received the ball on the edge of the box, but he cut across the ball on the half-volley and it cleared the bar.

Five minutes later, the Bees were ahead. Vitaly Janelt picked up a loose ball inside the final third, got his head down, exchanged passes with Shandon Baptiste and drove at the Brighton defence. He ran past two defenders and, as he was about to pull the trigger, Jan Paul van Hecke cut across him and brought him down inside the box.

Mbeumo, for the third time this season, stepped up from 12 yards and cooly slotted past Jason Steele to make it 1-0.

Five minutes passed and Brighton were level. It was a well-worked move from the hosts, which started on one side of the pitch and was played from Hinshelwood, to João Pedro, to Kaoru Mitoma, who laid the ball to Groß on the edge of the area. He struck this one cleaner than his first attempt, and it nestled into the very far corner of the net.

Mbeumo then worryingly limped off after appearing to twist his ankle as he chased back Groß; he was replaced by Yoane Wissa.

The Seagulls had two half-chances before the break, as van Hecke won a header from a corner and Mitoma took aim from the edge of area - both went over the bar.

Early Hinshelwood goal completes Brighton turnaround

The second half started in frantic fashion as, just three minutes after the break, Mitoma squeezed past a defender and, despite appearing to be one-on-one with Mark Flekken, squared to Pedro inside the six-yard box.

Ethan Pinnock dived in the way to block, before Frank Onyeka hoovered up and hooked away.

It was then the Bees' chance to test the Brighton defence. Onyeka was involved at the other end, as he robbed Groß and, bearing down on goal, squared to Neal Maupay. The Frenchman's shot was blocked by a defender and, as Wissa took aim on the rebound, his effort was cleared on the line.

Less than 60 seconds had passed before the hosts headed down the other end and made it 2-1. Mitoma was at the heart of the move again, as he combined with Groß, who clipped a ball to the back post. Hinshelwood rose highest to head past Flekken.

The Bees pushed for an equaliser, with Pinnock heading just over from a Ghoddos free-kick and Lewis-Potter beating Igor but unable to get his cross into the box.

A Ben Mee scissor kick in the 95th minute was the final chance of the game, as the Bees left the south coast with no points from their efforts.

Brighton: Steele, Hinshelwood (Veltman 73), Igor, van Hecke, Groß, Baleba (Moder 84), Gilmour, Adringa (Baker-Boaitey 84), Buonanotte (Milner 68), Mitoma, Pedro (Ferguson 68)

Subs not used: Verbruggen, Kavanagh, Barrington, O'Mahony

Brentford: Flekken, Roerslev (Peart-Harris 84), Pinnock, Mee, Ghoddos, Janelt, Onyeka, Baptiste (Damsgaard 68), Yarmoliuk (Lewis-Potter 46), Maupay, Mbeumo (Wissa 40)

Subs not used: Strakosha, Zanka, Adedokun, Goode, Olakigbe

Frank: We didn't hit our highest level

Brentford head coach Thomas Frank said that, despite his players giving everything against Brighton, he believes that they didn't reach their highest level at Amex Stadium.

"It's always annoying to lose," he said. "It was a game where the boys gave everything; they put a lot of effort into the game.

"I don't think we hit our highest effort, in general. We have a higher level on the ball, and I know the individual actions of each player can be at an even higher level to produce more opportunities.

"We also defended quite well and didn't give much away against them.

"It wasn't the highest level on the day but, even at that level, we were close to getting something from the game."

Janelt ‘very proud’ to captain the Bees

Vitaly Janelt said he was “very proud” to captain Brentford against Brighton and Hove Albion on Wednesday night but expressed his frustration at the Bees’ defeat.

“We tried to do something different today, playing in a 4-4-2 shape, which is what we did against them in the US during pre-season,” he said.

“Today we did well in some spells, but in some spells they were on top and showed us how to play.

“We had a big opportunity [which fell to Yoane Wissa before Brighton’s second goal] and if we scored that, it would have made a huge difference.

“We’re disappointed we didn’t get any points today, but we have to look ahead.”