The 'stupid' Joao Gomes moment in Brighton vs Aston Villa that had Sky pundit fuming

Joao Gomes produced one of the worst Premier League debuts ever seen by an Aston Villa player in the clash with Brighton.

The £38million summer signing from Wolves was handed a start by Unai Emery at the Amex Stadium.

He was off the pace from the off and was sent off with 40 minutes on the clock.

This was with Villa already 4-0 down in a frankly dreadful start to their Premier League campaign.

Victor Lindelof put into his own net early on and further goals followed from Maxim De Cuyper and Jack Hinshelwood (two).

And Lee Hendrie pretty much summed up the views of Villa fans with his comments during the first half.

Joao Gomes fails to learn his lesson vs Brighton

Gomes had a stinker against Brighton. There really is no other way of putting it.

The 10-cap Brazil international may have won four tackles - the most of any Villa player in the first half - but he was deservedly sent off.

Even prior to his red, given after a VAR review, Gomes should have been issued a second yellow by referee Peter Bankes.

Already on a yellow, Gomes crashed into Yasin Ayari and somehow avoided being dismissed.

Speaking live on Sky Sports, former Villa midfielder Hendrie said: "This is very, very stupid from Joao Gomes, who's already on a yellow. Emery has told him to calm down."

Villa's first-half horror show in numbers

The fact Gomes completed all 15 of his passes for a 100 per cent pass-completion rate does not come close to telling the whole story.

He was the worst player of a terrible bunch on the South Coast, with Villa generating a first-half xG of just 0.18.

More worrying is that Brighton had an xG of 2.96, highlighting just how much more dominant they were.

Brighton created four big chances, meanwhile, compared to zero for the Villans.

Not only did Emery's men fail to create, they were also shockingly bad at the other end.

With zero shots on target, the visitors could have no complaints about what panned out at the Amex.

The only hope is that things do not get even worse in the second 45 minutes, with damage limitation now the order of the day.