Barnsley have lost back-to-back league games for the first time under Paul Heckingbottom after a 2-0 defeat at Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.
Glenn Murray netted early in both halves as the Reds failed to score for the first time since their return to the Championship and slipped down from fourth to seventh.
Head coach Paul Heckingbottom made two changes to the side which lost 2-1 at home to Reading a week earlier. The injured Aidy White was replaced at left-back by Cole Kpekawa with Marley Watkins being placed on the right wing at the expense of Ryan Kent who dropped to the bench.
Brighton almost took the lead in the second minute when Beram Kayal's excellent pass put Murray through but his shot from a tight angle on the right was brilliantly diverted over by Reds goalkeeper Adam Davies.
The hosts eventually took the lead ten minutes later after Barnsley had put a lot of their players forward to attack a free-kick. They were caught by a slick counter-attack which finished with Anthony Knockaert and Kayal combining to set up Murray who fired in from close range.
Barnsley then had to play for seven minutes with Marc Roberts in the changing rooms receiving treatment for a cut to the head. Gaetan Bong exchanged passes with Knockaert on the left of the box and lured Davies off his line before pulling the ball back for Murray who fired wide of the goal from eight yards out with players on the line.
Roberts returned to the pitch midway through the half which added a lot more solidity to the Reds defence and stemmed the flow of Brighton attacks. The hosts had three of their back four booked in the first 30 minutes with Bong, Lewis Dunk and captain Bruno Saltor all receiving yellow cards.
The Reds went into the break knowing they had been far from their best with their only effort on goal being an early 35-yard Kpekawa strike which went well wide.
Brighton doubled their lead three minutes after the interval when Jiri Skalak's left-wing free-kick was headed by Murray and Davies could only touch it into the top right corner. Murray had another chance from a Skalak cross five minutes later but his weak effort from six yards out was easily caught by Davies.
The Red almost pulled one back with 15 minutes to play when Scowen exchanged passes with Sam Winnall and fired a shot from the edge of the box which was very well saved by David Stockdale diving full-length to his right. Conor Hourihane then put a 25-yard shot just over the bar in the final minute of a disappointing match for Barnsley.
