Aston Villa 2-0 Brighton: Late goals get Steven Gerrard reign off to winning start as Villa stop the rot

Free highlights and match report as late goals from Ollie Watkins and Tyrone Mings give Steven Gerrard winning start in first Premier League game as manager; Villa end run of five straight defeats, Brighton winless in seven

Gerard Brand

@gedbrand10

Sunday 21 November 2021 09:19, UK

Steven Gerrard's Premier League managerial career got off to a winning start as Aston Villa's late show gave them a 2-0 victory over Brighton.

After a tight first 84 minutes, Villa broke the deadlock through Ollie Watkins' excellent finish, having cut in from the left, before centre-back Tyrone Mings smashed home a second from an angle (88).

Both goalkeepers were tested in the first half - Matt Cash forced Jason Steele into a stop from a header, while Emi Martinez denied both Leandro Trossard and Tariq Lamptey.

The hosts were solid yet uninspiring in front of a packed Villa Park, but they turned it on late in the game to give Gerrard a winning start and end Villa's run of five straight defeats.

Brighton are now without a win in seven in the Premier League after winning four of their first five.

How Villa finally got going to give Gerrard winning start

Gerrard was given a rapturous welcome to Villa Park on his Premier League managerial bow, and his side looked the more energetic in the first 15 minutes.

The first big chance came their way as Matt Targett's deep cross fell to fellow full-back Cash at the far post, but his low header was saved well by Steele, coming in for the suspended Robert Sanchez.

Brighton took the sting out of Villa and settled into the game thereafter, dominating the ball and creating two big chances. First, Trossard forced a reflect block from Martinez in the Villa net from a tight angle, before Martinez was forced into another fine save, spreading himself at the back post to deny Lamptey.

Villa nearly took the lead early in the second half as Mings' header from a John McGinn free-kick was tipped away well by Steele, but, as in the first half, Brighton stemmed the flow and grew into the game with more of the ball.

Gerrard attempted to change things up by bringing Leon Bailey on for Danny Ings, moving Watkins into a central position, while the frustrations continued for £38m signing Emi Buendia, brought off with 20 minutes to go after another tough afternoon.

"We wanted to pack the midfield, and when our moments comes, we wanted to go and hit the opposition," said Gerrard after the game, and Villa's opener came from Brighton blinking first.

"It was Ashley Young, Buendia's replacement, who burst the hosts into life with six minutes remaining, just as the game looked like it could go either way, pouncing as Brighton left men up the pitch.

"Turning well in a cul-de-sac in his own half, Young's brilliantly-weighted pass released Watkins, who had plenty to do in the final third. Cutting in from the left inside the box, he fired an unstoppable effort past Steele and into the far corner to send Villa Park wild.

Villa could smell a second and got it four minutes later; McGinn's wicked cross was only half-cleared by the stretched leg of Adam Webster, and, after scoring his first England goal against San Marino in midweek, Mings squeezed the ball home from a tight angle from a fair distance out, with Steele struggling to get back into his goal.

Bailey almost put the cherry on top with a first-time volley parried by Steele in stoppage time, and there was a sense of jubilation and relief in equal measure at full-time as Villa ended their rotten run, with tricky fixtures on the horizon.

What the managers said

Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard: "A mixture of excitement, relief, pride really. Because I can't be any more proud of the players. Some were only around for a couple days in the week, everything we asked them to do in the main they followed the structure and delivered a really good performance in the end.

"That's my medicine, I love winning, I love competing, I love seeing players happy, smiling, feeling good about themselves. We were a bit tense at times today, it wasn't all perfect, it was understandable that the players and crowd were a bit nervous.

"We had to suffer in the first half, to get through them difficult moments. I'm really proud of the players, a lot of positive stuff to take out of the game.

"We're at home, 42,000 with us, we want to be high energy and high tempo, but we can't be careless and jump out of slots, because good teams will hurt us.

"I've seen a lot of application and focus. It was a real big week, but the players applied themselves fantastically well and no one deserves this more than the players because they've had a tough time."

Brighton boss Graham Potter: "We can take positives from the performance up to 83 minutes, I thought we were the better team and played the role well here.

"We gave ourselves a chance to win, but ultimately we didn't score.

"I thought we created the better chances in a game of relatively few chances. They were hard to play against, hard to beat, and kept working, as you'd expect on the first day with a new manager. I think we created some decent chances."

Opta stats

In all competitions, Brighton have only won one of their last 13 matches against Aston Villa (D5 L7), a 2-1 away win last season in the Premier League.
Brighton are winless in seven Premier League games, though five of these have ended level (L2). Only Newcastle (12) are on a current longer winless run in the top-flight than Brighton (7).
Steven Gerrard became only the third permanent Aston Villa manager to win their first Premier League game for the club after John Gregory vs Liverpool in February 1998 and Gerard Houllier vs Wolves in September 2010.
Since the start of last season, Ollie Watkins has scored more Premier League goals than any other Aston Villa player (17).

What's next?

Villa now go to Crystal Palace at 3pm on Saturday in the Premier League, while Brighton host Leeds at 5.30pm on Saturday Night Football, live on Sky Sports Premier League.