Aston Villa produced a superb comeback to secure all three points in a thrilling 4-3 win over Brighton on Wednesday night.
Villa fell 2-0 behind in the early stages after a contentious but also disappointing start to the game, but a double from Ollie Watkins prior to the interval put us right back into the contest.
There was a significant improvement after the break and Amadou Onana put us ahead before Donyell Malen made an instant impact off the bench to make it 4-2, and although the hosts pulled one back to set up a nervy finish, Villa weren’t to be denied a sixth consecutive win.
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It was a thoroughly entertaining game, albeit Unai Emery will no doubt be less than pleased with some aspects of the performance, but he will certainly be delighted with the resilience and character shown by his players once again to find a way to win.
Further, it should also put an end to the recent discussions over our lack of goals inside the box, as we were clinical in this game when chances came our way, and the win moves us up to third place ahead of our clash with Arsenal at Villa Park on Saturday.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Brighton:
Marco Bizot, 7 – Should have done better for the opening goal, albeit it should have never been a corner in the first place. Recovered well from that early blunder though amid a late promotion to the starting XI after Emi Martinez suffered an issue in the warm up, and he produced a brilliant, decisive late save to help seal our win.
Matty Cash, 7 – Another solid shift from Villa’s right-back, as he defended diligently for the most part and got forward to stretch the pitch and give us an attacking outlet when possible too.
Ezri Konsa, 8 – Top class again, as he was aggressive in his defensive work to limit Brighton’s threat through the middle and marshalled the backline well with real leadership qualities. Composed in possession too.
Pau Torres, 7 – Was unlucky for the second goal as it was an unfortunate deflection, but even though he wasn’t as convincing as his centre-half partner in the defensive phase, he played his part in helping us recover and become an increasingly bigger threat going forward with his distribution.
Ian Maatsen, 7.5 – Showed good energy and intent down the left flank to get us on the front foot and create openings. Provided the assist for the first goal and did well defensively when needed too.
Amadou Onana, 8 – Headed home to put us in front with another decisive contribution. Added steeliness and presence in midfield for us, although we needed to be more imposing and control the game more effectively in the early part of the first half with Brighton causing a lot of problems.
Boubacar Kamara, 7 – Decent shift from the Frenchman. Not at his best as he can be so influential in both phases, but similarly to Onana, they couldn’t really impose themselves in the first half and that contributed to our early struggles. Grew into the game though as we became more dominant.
Evann Guessand, 6 – Still lacking quality with his end-product. Was on the receiving end of a furious rant from Emery in the first half, and although he improved after the half-time break, he’s not decisive enough in the final third, particularly when he does find himself in threatening positions. Worked hard, but needs to be more impactful as part of the collective and in individual duels.
John McGinn, 7 – A tireless effort from the Villa skipper, as although he couldn’t quite influence the game in a more prominent way, he was critical to our fightback by setting the tone and example with his work off the ball and driving us forward at times.
Morgan Rogers, 7.5 – Wonderful pass over the top to provide the assist for Watkins’ second, but he looked lively throughout with his movement, passing and ability to link our play together. Continuing to get back to the level of form we saw last season and his influence was evident in this one.
Ollie Watkins, 8.5 – Delighted for him. Had a tame effort easily saved just before we went 2-0 down and so the signs weren’t great as his goal drought continued. However, his breakthrough finally came and the finish for his second goal was clinical. We needed him back amongst the goals to give us firepower and a consistent source of goals up top, and hopefully this is the start for him to go on a run now.
Substitutes:
Youri Tielemans, 6 – Steadied the ship in the latter stages, but was difficult for him to get up to the speed of the game to do much more than that.
Lucas Digne, 6 – Similarly to Tielemans, he added freshness and resilience to help us see out the win.
Donyell Malen, 7 – Continued his excellent form as he was in the right place at the right time to apply the finish and put us 4-2 up, and was a constant threat on the counter as we looked to finish the game off.
Emiliano Buendia, N/A
Lamare Bogarde, N/A