Danny Welbeck and Diego Gomez stole the show as Brighton & Hove Albion swept aside Leeds United 3-0 at the Amex Stadium.
Welbeck had pounced for the first-half opener as the in-form striker scored for a sixth time in his last five league outings.
Gomez doubled Brighton's lead with a simple finish after 64 minutes, and added another to his account just six minutes later in a dominant home performance on Saturday.
Leeds rarely looked like responding as they struggled for fluidity in the final third, only going close through late chances for substitutes Lukas Nmecha and Anton Stach.
A drab away performance by Daniel Farke's side leaves them 16th in the table, five points clear of the relegation zone, while Brighton climbed up to eighth after their convincing win.
How the match unfolded
Brighton started fast and struck 11 minutes in when Yankuba Minteh excellently released Mats Wieffer, who squared across goal for Welbeck to convert from close range.
Welbeck fizzed another attempt wide before Minteh's drive just evaded the bottom-right corner, as Leeds struggled to test Bart Verbruggen at the other end in a one-sided first half.
It was a similar story after half-time for a timid Leeds, who fell further behind when Minteh burst down the right and his deflected cross found Gomez to finish into an unguarded net.
Gomez made sure of victory for Brighton soon after as Georginio Rutter drove down the left-hand side before his cross bounced off Minteh and into the path of the Paraguayan.
Lucas Perri then expertly kept out another Gomez effort and a wicked Yasin Ayari strike, before Nmecha’s chance was denied by the right foot of Verbruggen, who parried from Stach's follow-up attempt.
Veteran Welbeck sets the tone again
Fabian Hurzeler decided to leave Welbeck on the bench for their EFL Cup defeat against Arsenal on Wednesday, and that rest from the action seemed to pay dividends for the 34-year-old.
Along with his opener in this match, the forward has also scored match-winning braces against Chelsea and Newcastle United, as well as a brilliant free-kick at Old Trafford in a 4-2 defeat to Manchester United last time out.
Welbeck's constant occupation of Leeds' central defenders allowed more space for his team-mates, with Carlos Baleba and Ayari both going close to scoring before the opener.
Minteh, Rutter and Gomez all took advantage of that extra space too, with the latter left in acres of room for both of his finishes that came in simple fashion.
There were also positives for Hurzeler at the other end of the pitch as his side kept their first clean sheet in the league this season.
With a trip to rivals Crystal Palace next up for the Seagulls before the November international break, Hurzeler will be desperate for his team to build on this win.
Leeds falter on another away trip
A raucous Leeds away support may have been expecting this result, as their side failed to score at the Amex for an eighth straight game in all competitions.
It continued a familiar, and more worrying, pattern for Leeds, who were unable to back up their 2-1 victory over West Ham United last time out.
Leeds have now followed up their last seven Premier League wins with a draw and six defeats since they last won consecutive games in the top flight, back in November 2022.
The grey skies above the Amex were in keeping with Leeds’ lack of brightness in attack, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin again short of service and isolated up top.
Noah Okafor and Brenden Aaronson struggled to make an impact, while Calvert-Lewin sliced wide an optimistic second-half attempt with his only real opening.
Farke did try to push his side up the pitch in the second period, only for Perri's defence to be left exposed and punished in another disappointing away performance.
Leeds must find a way to pick up points on the road if they are to battle their way up the table, and they will have the chance to do just that when they travel to Nottingham Forest for a huge clash next time out.
Club reports
Brighton report | Leeds report
What the managers said
Fabian Hurzeler: "Overall it was a good performance from the start, especially the first 20 minutes. We lost a bit of control but in the second half got it back. We kept a clean sheet which was important, scored some good goals and created a lot of chances. I am happy, it's really about getting consistency into our results."
Daniel Farke: "Brighton were the better side and deserved to win today. You can talk about the 50-50 possession for both teams and we had more corner kicks.
"But you have to be honest to say that out of their possession, they created more chances and were more clinical, and for that, they deserved to win this game."
Next PL fixtures
Key facts
Brighton have lost just two of their last 20 league games against Leeds United (W12 D6) and are unbeaten in their last 10 on home soil against the Whites (W7 D3) since a 3-0 defeat in November 2009.
Brighton are unbeaten in their last nine home Premier League matches (W5 D4), their longest run without a defeat at their own ground since September to March in the 2023/24 season (12 unbeaten).
Leeds have conceded the opening goal in all five away Premier League matches this season – the Whites have lost 52 of their last 58 away top-flight matches when they’ve conceded first (W4 D2), including 16 of their last 17 (W1).
This was only the 11th meeting between two German managers in Premier League history, with Leeds boss Daniel Farke involved in five of those – he’s lost all five meetings with his compatriots (three against Jurgen Klopp and one each versus Thomas Tuchel and Fabian Hurzeler) by an aggregate score of 18-1.