Brighton 3-4 Aston Villa

ahsan65@gmail.comDecember 3, 2025

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Aston Villa came back from two goals down to edge out a chaotic seven-goal thriller at Brighton, with their 4-3 victory putting them third in the Premier League.

Villa got off to a nightmare start on the south coast following an error by goalkeeper Marco Bizot – a late replacement for Emiliano Martinez – and Pau Torres’ own goal put Brighton 2-0 up after 29 minutes.

But Ollie Watkins’ double, which ended their 11-match goal drought, brought Villa sensationally level before half-time.

Villa completed the comeback through Amadou Onana’s header in the 60th minute before substitute Donyell Malen scored with his first touch to give Villa a two-goal lead in the 78th minute.

But Brighton threatened a comeback as Jan Paul van Hecke scored his second of the game five minutes later.

Bizot then atoned for his mistake in Van Hecke’s opener with a fine save in stoppage time to deny Brighton substitute Danny Welbeck and ensure Villa held on for a sixth successive victory in all competitions.

The spectacular victory puts Unai Emery’s side six points behind leaders Arsenal, who they face at Villa Park on Saturday.

Brighton, who suffered a first defeat at home this season, fell to seventh place but will have the opportunity to bounce back on Sunday by hosting West Ham live. Aerial sports.

Watkins: I can leave difficult times behind me

Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins speaking to Sky Sports:

“I think since the managers came in I have scored a lot of goals and got assists and I still find myself playing regularly in the team.

“So to go a prolonged period of time without scoring and doing that, it takes a toll on you. It’s been tough, but you just have to keep getting back up and showing up every day and working hard.

“You get your rewards at the end and now I can put this behind me and continue to look forward.

“We are in an incredible place. Even though I wasn’t scoring, I looked at the bigger picture where we are further down the league.

“Winning every week, what’s not to like, really? So if I can add goals, that’s even better.”

Emery: Players understand they have to be consistent

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery speaking to Sky Sports:

“The players have the challenge of being consistent. Marco Bizot has been fantastic after Emi Martinez’s injury. Marco is a really fantastic guy, a fantastic professional. His role is clear and he has accepted it. When he plays like he did today, we are so proud of him.

“Today too, Watkins scored goals. Amadou [Onana] scores a goal from a set piece. This is something we are working on and missing. Today we achieved it.

“We needed other players who score goals like they did today. I’m proud of the way the players react. This is how we want to build, create here in our structure.

On Watkins: “When Watkins does his job, he plays fantastic. Sometimes he scores, sometimes he doesn’t. He went a long time without scoring, today he scored and he found that balance. He has to stay calm and keep going.”

Hurzeler: Small margins cost us dearly

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler speaking to Sky Sports:

“There are small margins that made the difference. It’s about your reaction and two set pieces made the difference. It’s the small margins. Overall we saw a team that never gave up and had the belief to win this game.

“Overall we have defended quite well this season so far. It’s not easy to defend set pieces. Goalkeeper blocking, we still don’t have a clear rule for that.

“It’s not easy to concede goals and we want to react. We have to face the adversity we face in the game and we have to be better.

“It was about small margins. They scored in the second half after two set pieces and that’s the difference. We have to do better and keep improving.”