Aston Villa 2-1 Brighton

Matt Targett scored a late winner as Aston Villa beat 10-man Brighton 2-1 at Villa Park. Both sides came into the game on the back of impressive victories ahead of the international break with Villa understandably unchanged, while the visitors made just one alteration as Davy Propper came in for Steven Alzate.
The pair pushed and probed early on, sharing possession but if anything the Seagulls were the better team going forward and Aaron Connolly arguably should have done better when firing over a loose ball in the box.
Brighton did break the deadlock on 20 minutes though, Adam Webster angling a smart header home past Tom Heaton from a delicious Pascal Gross delivery.
Neal Maupay then tested Tom Heaton from distance, before the goalkeeper thwarted Connolly one-on-one soon after.
Brighton were in control of the game but were hit by a significant blow on 35 minutes when Aaron Mooy fouled Jack Grealish and with him already on a yellow card, the Australian received his marching orders.
They were almost punished when Conor Hourihane fired into the top corner. Villa thought they’d equalised but the VAR official ruled the strike out due to a marginal foul by Wesley.
However, Grealish did get an equaliser just before the break, sliding in to level proceedings at the interval.
Graham Potter introduced Solly March after half-time and he had Heaton scrambling with a decent effort, while Mat Ryan also made a smart save from Hourihane.
Inevitably, with the man advantage the Villans’ influence increased but chances were few and far between in the second half.
Brighton were arguably the better side in that they always looking dangerous on the break and looked set to sneak a draw.
Things are not always fair in football though, and Villa got a stoppage-time winner from an unlikely source.
Left-back Matt Targett had a strong game down the flank, and latched onto Grealish’s reverse ball and lifted home over Ryan.
Villa came into the game having never lost to Brighton and that run continued as they sealed a 2-1 win.