Premier League Aston Villa Vs Brighton & Hove Albion Results

Aston Villa delivered a ruthless display as they were able to be thrashed by high-flying Brighton at Villa Park, with a second hat-trick of the season scored by Ollie Watkins.

An early lead was secured by Watkins, as he was found by Matty Cash with a low cross and coolly finished into the left corner. A rasping drive by the 27-year-old narrowly missed, but he quickly doubled his personal tally with a low shot inside Jason Steele’s right-hand post.

Sharper in ball possession and more dominant in challenges, Villa maintained control and expanded their lead just five minutes later, with Moussa Diaby’s scuffed shot deflecting off the unfortunate Pervis Estupinan and into the net.

Brighton improved in the second half, with a goal pulled back by half-time substitute Ansu Fati. However, Watkins secured his hat-trick with a powerful drive that deflected off Adam Webster on its way into the net, dashing the visitors’ hopes of an unlikely comeback.

Watkins, who had also scored three against Hibernian in Europa Conference League qualifying, became the first Villa player to score more than one hat-trick in a season since Andy Gray in 1976-77.

Late goals from Jacob Ramsey and Douglas Luiz were the finishing touches for Villa, which saw them draw level on points with the Seagulls in the Premier League standings.

Both teams were eliminated from the Carabao Cup in the midweek, with Villa losing 2-1 at home to Everton and Brighton falling 1-0 at Chelsea. Villa’s defeat to Everton was their first home loss since February.

However, they bounced back admirably as they repeatedly exposed Brighton’s vulnerability on the counter-attack and outclassed the Seagulls. Watkins, who had previously scored only once in his last 12 league appearances, was outstanding and came close to securing a first-half hat-trick.

Watkins’ third goal had an element of luck as it took a deflection off Webster and looped into the Brighton net, but it was well-deserved after his dazzling performance.

Ramsey contributed a fifth goal with a curling right-footed shot from the corner of the penalty area, and Douglas Luiz capitalized on a rebound from Watkins’ saved attempt to complete the rout in added time.

Villa’s victory marked their 10th consecutive home league win, their best run since recording 13 home league victories in a row 40 years ago.

Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi, who was linked to the Real Madrid manager’s job earlier in the week, had a sobering experience with his side. Although they had an early chance through Estupinan, Brighton was outperformed from the moment Watkins opened the scoring after 14 minutes.

Brighton may have felt hard done by Villa’s second and third goals. While Nicolo Zaniolo was offside when Watkins scored his second, VAR ruled that he was not obstructing Steele’s line of vision, resulting in the goal being allowed.

The third goal was also permitted to stand despite a foul on Solly March during the build-up, but Villa’s half-time lead was entirely justified.

De Zerbi made halftime changes by introducing Fati, Joao Pedro, and Tariq Lamptey, which immediately paid off as Fati scored his first goal for the club. However, it failed to spark a second-half comeback as Villa continued to pile on the goals.

This was Brighton’s first instance of conceding six goals in a single top-flight game and their first such defeat in any league match since losing 6-0 to West Ham in the Championship in April 2012.