Aston Villa returned to winning ways on Saturday with a 2-0 victory over Brighton at the Amex Stadium.
Goals from Matty Cash and Ollie Watkins were the difference in a largely scrappy encounter lacking high-level quality, but it was Villa who showed a clinical edge to our play while remaining disciplined and organised defensively.
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After a slow start, it was Cash’s excellent strike from the edge of the box that broke the deadlock, as he took a great first touch to set himself, before arrowing his right-footed effort in off the post.
Villa restricted Brighton to just one shot on target thereafter despite the hosts enjoying 66 per cent of possession, and that in turn gave us the opportunity to go on and put the game away.
The second goal came in the second half as Tyrone Mings launched a long ball over the top, and Watkins showed great pace and composure to double our lead and secure all three points.
After back-to-back defeats in which we failed to score a single goal, there would have been some pressure to put things right, get back on track and produce a strong performance.
Villa ticked most, if not all, the right boxes on Saturday, and it’s hoped that display and result is something we can now build on and improve on in the coming weeks to try and put a run of form together that moves us firmly into the top half of the Premier League table.
There was also a big moment for youngster Tim Iroegbunam, as he came on for his senior Villa debut in what was a positive afternoon overall for Steven Gerrard and his men, as Ezri Konsa returned from suspension to show his importance too with a solid performance in the heart of the Villa defence.
Watch highlights from Villa’s win over Brighton below, including those two superb goals from Cash and Watkins…
