João Gomes was sent off before half-time against Brighton on the 2026–27 opening weekend.
Gomes was dismissed five minutes before the interval as Aston Villa fell 4–0 away to Brighton & Hove Albion. The red card came after Brighton had already scored four times in the opening 31 minutes.
The sending-off made Gomes the first player dismissed in the first half of a Premier League debut since QPR’s Samba Diakité in 2012. Gomes had joined Villa from Wolverhampton Wanderers during the summer transfer window.
Brighton did not add to its first-half total after the dismissal, but Villa could not recover. Victor Lindelöf had also scored an own goal for Brighton, while Jack Hinshelwood contributed two goals.