Brighton halted a six-game winless run in the Premier League with an impressive victory over Brentford to ease the pressure on manager Fabian Hurzeler.

The Seagulls had failed to find the net since a 1-1 draw with Everton on 31st January but they were the better side at the Gtech Community Stadium and deservedly took a two-goal lead into half-time.

Jack Hinshelwood and Kaoru Mitoma had already gone close by the time Ferdi Kadioglu's spectacular long-range effort rattled off the crossbar and into the path of Diego Gomez, who showed great composure to open the scoring from the rebound.

Brentford defender Nathan Collins, who had only just replaced the injured Aaron Hickey, was at fault for the visitors' second as he made a complete mess of clearing Hinshelwood's low cross into Danny Welbeck, who was left with a simple close-range finish.

Brentford did have opportunities of their own, Igor Thiago sending a half-volley over the crossbar and Vitaly Janelt missing the target with a delicate left-footed strike from just outside the box, but the Bees were far from their best.

The closest they came to reducing the arrears in the second half was when Joel Veltman inadvertently steered Dango Ouattara's cross towards his own net, but goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen produced a fine save to prevent the ball from crossing the line.

On a memorable afternoon for Brighton, 40-year-old midfielder James Milner made his 654th Premier League outing in west London to break Gareth Barry's long-standing top-flight appearance record.

The victory lifts Brighton 10 points clear of the relegation zone while Brentford miss the chance to climb into the top six.

Only Burnley and Wolves had picked up fewer points than Brighton in their last 13 league games prior to this weekend, with the Seagulls' only league win in that period coming against the Clarets on 3 January.

However, for a team that has appeared increasingly goal-shy in recent weeks, Hurzeler's side did not appear to be lacking confidence in the final third – far from it.

With the game still goalless, Hinshelwood had a venomous shot unconvincingly parried wide by Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, who then did well to deny Mitoma in a one-v-one as Brighton dominated the early stages.

The visitors' second goal – which came after Collins attempted to clear Hinshelwood's delivery with an elaborate flick – may have been a gift, but the 2-0 half-time scoreline was an accurate reflection of the visitors' superiority.

Hurzeler's team had less of the ball after the restart but were rarely troubled by an uncharacteristically toothless Brentford, whose only effort on target after half-time came from Mikkel Damsgaard's attempted lob in the 87th minute.

Milner's afternoon was ended by an apparent injury not long after that but the former England international received a rapturous ovation from the away end as he made his way off the pitch.

Despite their recent struggles, Brighton are now only six points behind Brentford in the table and only two off 10th-placed Newcastle United.

Having seen their side collect more points in their last 10 Premier League games than any other team in the division, Brentford fans could have been forgiven for expecting another routine home victory against the out-of-sorts Seagulls.

The Bees supporters were left disappointed however as Keith Andrews' team missed the chance to move above Liverpool ahead of the champions' trip to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

Thiago perhaps should have given the hosts the lead after expertly controlling Jordan Henderson's lofted pass in the first half but a Brentford goal at that stage would have flattered the Brentford boss and his players.

Andrews introduced Kevin Schade and Yehor Yarmoliuk at half-time in a bid to inject some much-needed energy and invention into his side but there was little improvement from the hosts in the second half.

Damsgaard failed to trouble Verbruggen with a tame lob late in the second half while Ouattara hooked a shot over the crossbar following a free-kick.

Verbruggen also pulled off a superb late save to prevent Veltman from turning Ouattara's cross into his own net, but there was little else for the home fans to shout about as Brentford slipped to just their third home league defeat of the campaign.

Brentford travel to struggling Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday, 28 February (15:00 GMT) while Brighton welcome Nottingham Forest to the Amex Stadium on Sunday, 1 March (14:00 GMT).