Match ends, Brighton and Hove Albion 0, Aston Villa 2.
BrightonBrighton & Hove Albion0Aston VillaAston Villa2
Ollie Watkins scored his first goal since December as Aston Villa kept themselves in contention for a top-10 finish in the Premier League by winning at Brighton & Hove Albion.
Matty Cash opened the scoring for the visitors in the first half, driving in from the edge of the box after Lucas Digne's cross had been half cleared.
Brighton had been the better side until then but were unable to capitalise on some poor Aston Villa defending.
The away side had a great chance to increase their lead soon after the restart but Philippe Coutinho's free-kick was superbly kept out by a diving Robert Sanchez.
But a second arrived towards the end of the second half when Watkins ran clear after Tyrone Mings sent a superb ball over the top and the striker finished confidently for his sixth Premier League goal of the season.
Substitute Danny Welbeck headed wide when unmarked late on but the hosts never really looked like staging a dramatic fight back.
The win means Aston Villa move up to 12th, three points behind 10th-place Brighton.
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A much-needed win for Gerrard
Steven Gerrard could hardly have wished for a better start to life as a Premier League manager after overseeing four wins in his first six games following his appointment as Aston Villa boss on 13 November.
That had Villa fans dreaming of the possibility of securing European football for next season but a run of four defeats in their next seven games saw their challenge for the top seven fade away.
This was not quite a perfect performance, with a nervous Villa fortunate not to be punished in the early stages for a lack of concentration in defence but they improved after Cash's opener and Watkins' first goal of 2022 will no doubt do wonders to the striker's confidence.
After back-to-back defeats it was a win that Villa will hope gets their season back on track but for Brighton it was another disappointing outcome on home soil.
The Seagulls have impressed many with their brand of football, but too often good performances have not been backed up with results.
It is now just one victory in their last 10 games at home and finding ways to win more often in front of their own fans is something they need to resolve if they are to establish themselves in the top half of the table.
Player of the match
McGinnJohn McGinn
with an average of 8.05
Brighton & Hove Albion
Avg
- Squad number2Player nameLampteyAverage rating
5.62
- Squad number1Player nameSánchezAverage rating
5.47
- Squad number20Player nameMarchAverage rating
5.37
- Squad number34Player nameVeltmanAverage rating
5.37
- Squad number5Player nameDunkAverage rating
5.26
- Squad number3Player nameCucurellaAverage rating
5.16
- Squad number11Player nameTrossardAverage rating
5.13
- Squad number9Player nameMaupayAverage rating
5.10
- Squad number15Player nameModerAverage rating
5.06
- Squad number8Player nameBissoumaAverage rating
5.04
- Squad number10Player nameMac AllisterAverage rating
5.03
- Squad number18Player nameWelbeckAverage rating
4.86
Aston Villa
Avg
- Squad number7Player nameMcGinnAverage rating
8.05
- Squad number23Player namePhilippe CoutinhoAverage rating
7.85
- Squad number2Player nameCashAverage rating
7.84
- Squad number11Player nameWatkinsAverage rating
7.54
- Squad number1Player nameE MartínezAverage rating
7.31
- Squad number8Player nameSansonAverage rating
7.27
- Squad number41Player nameJ RamseyAverage rating
7.22
- Squad number27Player nameDigneAverage rating
7.02
- Squad number4Player nameKonsaAverage rating
7.02
- Squad number47Player nameIroegbunamAverage rating
6.97
- Squad number5Player nameMingsAverage rating
6.91
- Squad number18Player nameYoungAverage rating
6.85
- Squad number6Player nameDouglas LuizAverage rating
6.71
- Squad number20Player nameIngsAverage rating
6.60
Line-ups
Brighton
Formation 3-5-2
- 1Sánchez
- 34VeltmanBooked at 58mins
- 5Dunk
- 3CucurellaBooked at 16mins
- 2Lamptey
- 15ModerSubstituted forWelbeckat 62'minutes
- 8BissoumaBooked at 57mins
- 10Mac Allister
- 20March
- 9Maupay
- 11TrossardBooked at 25mins
Substitutes
- 13Groß
- 17Alzate
- 18Welbeck
- 23Steele
- 24Duffy
- 25Caicedo
- 42Leonard
- 57Offiah
- 58Ferguson
Aston Villa
Formation 4-1-2-1-2
- 1E MartínezBooked at 83mins
- 2CashBooked at 19mins
- 4Konsa
- 5MingsBooked at 40mins
- 27Digne
- 6Douglas LuizBooked at 25minsSubstituted forSansonat 72'minutes
- 7McGinn
- 41J Ramsey
- 23CoutinhoSubstituted forIroegbunamat 86'minutes
- 11WatkinsBooked at 40mins
- 20IngsSubstituted forYoungat 79'minutes
Substitutes
- 8Sanson
- 10Buendía
- 16Chambers
- 18Young
- 25Olsen
- 30Hause
- 31Bailey
- 47Iroegbunam
- 58O'Reilly
- Referee:
- John Brooks
- Attendance:
- 31,475
Match Stats
Home TeamBrightonAway TeamAston Villa
- Possession
- Home67%
- Away33%
- Shots
- Home12
- Away9
- Shots on Target
- Home1
- Away4
- Corners
- Home7
- Away2
- Fouls
- Home17
- Away11
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Brighton and Hove Albion 0, Aston Villa 2.
Post update
Foul by Danny Welbeck (Brighton and Hove Albion).
Post update
Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton and Hove Albion).
Post update
Morgan Sanson (Aston Villa) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Post update
Corner, Brighton and Hove Albion. Conceded by Morgan Sanson.
Substitution
Substitution, Aston Villa. Tim Iroegbunam replaces Philippe Coutinho.
Booking
Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa) is shown the yellow card.
Post update
Solly March (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Post update
Foul by Lucas Digne (Aston Villa).
Post update
Corner, Brighton and Hove Albion. Conceded by John McGinn.
Post update
Attempt saved. Neal Maupay (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Substitution
Substitution, Aston Villa. Ashley Young replaces Danny Ings.
Post update
Attempt missed. Leandro Trossard (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Marc Cucurella with a cross.
Post update
Attempt missed. Yves Bissouma (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
Substitution
Substitution, Aston Villa. Morgan Sanson replaces Douglas Luiz.
Post update
Attempt missed. Danny Welbeck (Brighton and Hove Albion) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Solly March with a cross.
Goal!
Goal! Brighton and Hove Albion 0, Aston Villa 2. Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Tyrone Mings with a through ball.
Post update
Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Comments
Join the conversation
Most sensible people will see nothing wrong with raising his shirt to express support for his Polish team-mate who is currently trapped in Ukraine.
If Mr Brookes cannot appreciate this then i trust his 3rd game will be his last !
I know some fans hate the word but we are in transition this season with a mix of promising performances & setbacks. But I think most of us can see the bigger picture here. UTV
Bad luck Brighton.
Clearly still much to do...but if we finish around the same place as last year, having shed our dependence on Jack, I'll be fine with that.
Thankfully, it looks like they have done enough in the first half of the season to stay up, although another couple of wins required to be truly safe.
UTV