Brighton’s superb start to the Premier League season continued as they held off a late Leicester rally to move up to third place in the table.
The Foxes twice thought they had rescued a point in the closing stages but Ademola Lookman and Wilfred Ndidi both saw goals chalked off for Harvey Barnes straying offside.
Brighton bossed the opening hour but needed a controversial penalty to set them on their way, Neal Maupay scoring his third goal of the season from the spot after Jannik Vestergaard’s handball.
Vestergaard argued a foul by Maupay led him to handle Shane Duffy’s header but, after lengthy deliberations, referee Stuart Attwell awarded a spot-kick.
Danny Welbeck doubled Brighton’s advantage early in the second period, glancing home a near-post header from Leandro Trossard’s free-kick out wide.
Leicester finally sprang into life, Jamie Vardy halving the deficit by side-footing Youri Tielemans’ first-time cross in from close range after a fine one-touch move.
But they were denied a point as Barnes was twice adjudged to have interfered with play when Lookman scuffed home from a corner and Ndidi headed in from another.
Defeat marked a third loss in five games for Leicester while Brighton registered their first Premier League victory over the Foxes in nine attempts since their promotion into the top flight four years ago.
Brighton led thanks to Attwell’s decision to penalise Vestergaard for handball when the Denmark defender was beaten to a header from a corner by Duffy.
The referee did not initially award the penalty, gesturing for a corner instead, but changed his mind after a conference with his assistant.
There was no doubt that Vestergaard’s right arm was raised high in an unnatural position when it diverted Duffy’s header off target.
However, Leicester argued the flailing arm was as a result of the defender’s left arm being held down by Maupay, impeding his jump, and were furious that the video assistant referee did not intervene.
The Foxes were again aggrieved by the officials with the two efforts that were ruled out through no fault of the scorers but Barnes was in the eye-line of Seagulls goalkeeper Robert Sanchez in both instances.
They had other chances to go home with a point but Caglar Soyuncu missed with a free header from yet another corner while Tielemans flashed wide in injury time as Brighton clung on.
Such a late onslaught had looked unlikely for much of the game as Brighton fully merited the two-goal lead Maupay and Welbeck gave them.
But after Vardy marked his 250th Premier League appearance with his 150th Leicester goal, the visitors rallied and were ultimately unfortunate to come away empty-handed.
