Aston Villa secured a vital 2-1 win over Brighton on Sunday as we signed off ahead of the World Cup break in positive fashion.
There was an early setback as our efforts to play out from the back led to a costly error as the hosts took a first-minute lead and thus gave us plenty to do.
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However, to the credit of the players, they showed great character and resilience to bounce back, produce a good response and ultimately turn the game around to secure the win.
The three points move us up to 12th place in the Premier League table, with Unai Emery enjoying back-to-back league wins since taking over as we registered our first away win of the campaign too.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Brighton:
Emiliano Martinez, 6.5 – Played a poor pass which led to Brighton’s goal in an early costly error. However, alert thereafter as he collected crosses into the box well, made a couple of crucial saves and then helped the clock tick along to see out the victory.
Matty Cash, 7 – Put in a solid defensive shift as he was really tested but stood up well to Brighton’s play down that flank. Almost added an assist to his day’s work with Buendia’s header from his delivery hitting the woodwork.
Ezri Konsa, 8 – Made some crucial interventions to help us hold out for the win. Beyond his solid defensive work, was also composed and accurate with his distribution out from the back.
Tyrone Mings, 8 – Was under pressure early on but settled well and responded with a top performance. Made some decisive contributions defensively to cut out danger as Brighton pressed for a way back into the game.
Lucas Digne, 7 – Struggled at times as he was caught out positionally on occasion while Brighton’s pressure almost forced him into some mistakes, most notably the penalty call which VAR deemed wasn’t a foul and rightly so. However, was part of a solid defensive shift as a unit and deserves praise for that.
Boubacar Kamara, 8 – Battled hard throughout as he provided real presence in the midfield scrap and consistently broke up Brighton’s play and got us moving up the pitch. Tired towards the end, but brought composure and technical quality to the team as well as steeliness.
Douglas Luiz, 7 – Should have done better to shield the ball to avoid getting caught in possession for Brighton’s early goal. However, he responded well to that setback thereafter and made up for it by doing exactly the same thing at the other end of the pitch. His timely interception just outside the Brighton box led to Ings scoring his second and ultimately our winning goal.
Jacob Ramsey, 7 – Faded before being replaced, but that came after an impressive effort as his powerful, surging runs with the ball at his feet caused Brighton problems and opened up some decent chances for us.
John McGinn, 7 – Was a surprise to see him named in the starting XI in truth, as his recent form arguably hasn’t earned him that spot. Nevertheless, put in a shift for the team as he always does in a committed performance, and it was his key run that led to the penalty which in turn got us back into the game. Still wasteful at times with the ball, but a clear improvement.
Emiliano Buendia, 7 – Played a wonderful pass into McGinn which led to the penalty being awarded and popped up all across the pitch in an all-action and determined display. Will be disappointed with himself having given away possession cheaply on a few occasions, but a positive display and went close to scoring too with a headed effort that hit the post.
Danny Ings, 8 – Pre-game concerns over his ability to successfully lead the line, but he put those to bed and scored a decisive brace that won us the game. Impressive shift on and off the ball, tucked his penalty away and showed great composure and coolness before getting a bit of luck with the finish for the second. That’s now five Premier League goals on the season.
Substitutes:
Ashley Young, 7 – Used his experience and positional awareness well to cut out some dangerous Brighton moves and helped us see out the game in the latter stages.
Leon Bailey, 6 – Did a decent job of offering us an out ball on the counter as we shut up shop to hold on for the win, and was good to see him put in a shift off the bench despite struggling with illness before the game.
Ludwig Augustinsson, N/A
Cameron Archer, N/A
Leander Dendoncker, N/A
