Villa’s eventful defeat to Manchester United on Thursday took an age to get going, but such patience wasn’t needed on the south coast. Less than 50 seconds were on the clock when Emiliano Martínez's (30) pass invited pressure onto Douglas Luiz (24), allowing Alexis Mac Allister (23) to pick his pocket and find the net with a composed finish.
A nightmare start didn’t deter the visitors, however, and Martínez almost made amends with a raking 70-yard ball that would have sent Ings through on goal, only for the attack to be stifled by Levi Colwill’s (19) heroic block.
Eventually, Villa found their feet and made their mark after a slick move saw John McGinn (28) brought down in the box. Seagulls stopper Robert Sánchez (24) got a hand to Danny Ings’ (30) mediocre penalty, but that wasn’t enough to stop Unai Emery’s side notching their first away goal in over a month.
A tale of revenge unfolded shortly after the break. In a complete mirror of Brighton’s opener, Luiz stole the ball from Mac Allister to kick-start a potent Villa attack that saw Ings’ deflected strike trickle past Sánchez, moments after Emiliano Buendía (25) header struck the bar. The hosts turned the screw but failed to manufacture anything clear-cut until the 88th minute, when Levi Colwill (19) agonisingly spooned a point-blank header off target.
Three points catapult Villa up to 12th in the Premier League table, which comes as an invaluable boost for Emery, given that Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur await immediately after the FIFA World Cup break.
As for the high-flying Seagulls, dropped points don’t detract from Roberto De Zerbi’s excellent start in the dugout as they remain above Chelsea in seventh.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Danny Ings (Aston Villa)
