Brighton 3-0 Rotherham: Seagulls cruise to victory

Brighton maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a comfortable 3-0 home victory over Rotherham giving them a second Sky Bet Championship win out of three.

The Seagulls have yet to concede a goal this term and first half goals from Anthony Knockaert and Glenn Murray put them on their way before a crowd of 25,128 at the Amex Stadium.

Israeli international striker Tomer Hemed completed the scoring with a 58th minute penalty to leave Rotherham still searching for their first win under manager Alan Stubbs.

Brighton, unbeaten at home since New Year's Day, threatened early on when Murray failed to get a shot away after Gaetan Bong combined cleverly with Hemed.

Former Charlton midfielder Dale Stephens, called up for his first start of the season in place of Beram Kayal, was off target from the edge of the area after a short pass by Knockaert.

Brighton boss Chris Hughton gave a debut to Finland international goalkeeper Niki Maenpaa with David Stockdale nursing a shin injury, and Maenpaa was relieved to see a right-footed shot from skipper Stephen Kelly fly over.

But Albion took a firm foothold in the game by scoring twice in the space of three minutes through Knockaert and Murray.

Frenchman Knockaert broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute by firing home from the edge of the area after being set up by Bong. Keeper Lee Camp got a hand on the ball but could not keep it out as Knockaert scored his seventh goal in 13 appearances at the Amex.

Liam Rosenior later delivered the perfect cross for Murray to hit his third goal of the season with a well-taken shot on the turn at the far post.

Hemed came close to making it 3-0 on the half hour but his goalbound shot was blocked by Camp.

Oliver Norwood and Jamie Murphy both put shots wide for the dominant Seagulls before the interval, while, at the other end, Maenpaa did not have a shot to save.

Rotherham quickly came under pressure after the break and Hemed just failed to connect with an attempted volley after Rosenior's cross.

But Hemed struck from the penalty spot to make it 3-0 on 58 minutes, sending Camp the wrong was after Murray was brought down by Stephen Kelly.

Hemed headed wide from a cross by midfielder Norwood as the one-sided nature of the contest continued.

Rotherham produced very little by way of attacking threat, but Maenpaa did well to save a goalbound shot from Ward, before turning a fierce drive from Will Vaulks round the post.

The Millers had their best spell late in the game and Maenpaa was put under pressure by a poor back pass from Norwood.