How Roberto De Zerbi’s free-scoring Brighton are blazing Premier League trail

Brighton broke a Premier League record with Saturday’s 3-2 win at Nottingham Forest, their 17th consecutive game in which both teams have scored.

Here, the PA news agency looks at Roberto De Zerbi’s free-flowing side.

Joao Pedro, left, celebrates his second goal against Nottingham Forest with Evan Ferguson

After beating Arsenal 3-0 in May, the Seagulls’ final four games of last season began the ongoing sequence.

They lost 4-1 to Newcastle, beat Southampton 3-1, drew 1-1 with champions Manchester City and closed out the season with a 2-1 loss to Aston Villa.

They opened the new campaign with 4-1 wins over Luton and Wolves before their next four games all finished 3-1 – defeat to West Ham followed by wins over Newcastle, Manchester United and Bournemouth.

Even during the six-match winless run that followed, they scored in each – losing 6-1 to Villa and 2-1 at City and drawing 2-2 with Liverpool and 1-1 against Fulham, Everton and Sheffield United.

That matched Everton’s previous record of 16 successive games between September 2012 and January 2013, and Evan Ferguson’s 26th-minute equaliser against Forest broke the record before Joao Pedro’s double secured three points.

Thirteen games is also the longest such run from the start of a season, comfortably beating the record of nine by Middlesbrough in 2000-01 and Leicester on their way to the 2015-16 title.

Roberto De Zerbi, left, celebrates victory over Nottingham Forest

Since De Zerbi succeeded Graham Potter last season, Brighton rank fourth in Premier League goals scored with 89.

They have  found the back of the net in 29 successive games since losing 1-0 to Fulham in February and 41 out of 45 since the Italian started as he meant to go on with a 3-3 draw against Liverpool.

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