MY ACCOUNT
Aston Villa picked up their first win in four as they defeated Brighton 2-0 at the AMEX Stadium, with the game delayed for half an hour due to local traffic.
It was visitors Villa who got out of the blocks the quickest with Matty Cash giving them the lead with a terrific strike in the 17th minute.
Steven Gerrard’s side doubled their advantage 20 minutes from time when Ollie Watkins ended his goal drought with a great finish.
The Seagulls have now lost their last three Premier League games and boss Graham Potter said: “The performance was better than the result.
“The goals punished us, with the first one coming against the run of play. We had started well.
“The margins are small in this league. We didn’t get carved open but Villa scored two and sometimes that happens in football.”
Villa are just three points off the top half, and Gerrard said: “We’ve been in some sticky form but credit to the players they have stayed focused.
“We owned the pitch out of possession and all our good stuff came on the back of that.
“We looked the more dangerous team. The game plan worked to a tee.”
Did you know?
Brighton have conceded two or more goals in three consecutive Premier League games for the first time since November 2019.
Aston Villa have lost just one of their last 12 league meetings with the Seagulls.
Cash’s strike was only his second in 53 top-flight appearances, and first away from home in 27 games.
Since Gerrard’s arrival at Villa, only Manchester City have won more away games in the Premier League.
There were six yellow cards in the first half of this match — the most cards shown in the opening 45 minutes of a top-flight game since Arsenal v Huddersfield in December 2018.
