Brighton maintained their strong pre-international break form with victory at Sunderland, despite playing half an hour with 10 men in controversial circumstances.
Goals from Maxim de Cuyper and Jaouen Hadjam meant the Seagulls stay third in the table - two points behind joint-leaders Manchester City and Arsenal.
Pascal Gross yet again was the provider for the 53rd-minute opener, a slide-rule pass out to the left to find de Cuyper who slid a low finish past home keeper Robin Roefs.
The game was almost turned on its head just four minutes later after Wilson Isidor went down under pressure from Brighton defender Pascal Struijk, who was the last man as the Sunderland forward tried to run on to a through-ball.
Neither referee Thomas Bramall nor his assistant gave a foul initially, but video assistant referee (VAR) Neil Davies intervened and called the match official to the screen. After watching the replay multiple times, Bramall gave Struijk a straight red card to disbelief from the visitors.
Brighton fended off the 11 men, however, and added a second in stoppage time when left-back Hadjam finished a counter-attack with a low strike across Roefs for his first goal for the club.
Struijk had earlier come close to an opener with the final touch of the first half. Sunderland's defence went to sleep from a Brighton free-kick, allowing the ex-Leeds centre-back a free header which bounced off the far post.
Despite the debatable red card, Fabian Hurzeler's men earned their third straight league success, while Sunderland suffered a fourth loss in six league games and third in succession. They are 16th in the table, but could end the weekend in the relegation zone.
