Aston Villa player ratings vs Brighton: Ollie Watkins back to his best, 3/10 completely out of his depth
Aston Villa ran out 4-3 winners in a crazy game against Brighton, taking all three points back to the Midlands.
Brighton raced into a two goal lead, Jan Paul van Hecke forcing in the opener before Pau Torres poked into his own net.
Aston Villa fought back quickly though, Ollie Watkins sliding home to halve the deficit before then levelling the scores with a smart finish just before the break.
Unai Emery’s side came out for the second half with a renewed sense of energy, Amadou Onana powering home from a corner, with Donyell Malen then adding a fourth just seconds after coming on.
With seven minutes left to play, Van Hecke grabbed his second of the afternoon with a strike from the edge of the box, but Villa managed to hang on and secure all three points.
Ollie Watkins sends message to Unai Emery
Watkins came into the contest in absymal form, having not scored in his last 11 Aston Villa games across all competitions.
The England international showed his class against Brighton though, dragging Villa back into the contest after they had fallen two goals behind.
When his team needed him most, Watkins stepped up, sliding home an Ian Maatsen cross to halve the deficit.
Moments before half-time, the 29-year-old found the back of the net again, bursting through on goal and making no mistake with the finish.
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Marco Bizot bailed out by Aston Villa teammate
Emi Martinez was the hero in Aston Villa’s 1-0 win over Wolves, but the Argentine picked up an injury in the warm up and was forced to pull out of the lineup.
Marco Bizot came in for the 33-year-old, but his lack of match sharpness was clear, and he almost cost Emery’s side he game.
Bizot was at fault for Van Hecke’s opener, before failing to keep out Torres’ deflection, as Brighton went 2-0 up.
| Stats | Marco Bizot |
| Goals Conceded | 3 |
| Expected Goals Prevented | -1.15 |
| Errors leading to a goal | 1 |
The Dutchman did make a superb save in the final seconds to prevent Danny Welbeck netting an equaliser.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Brighton
Marco Bizot – 3/10
Matty Cash – 7/10
Ezri Konsa – 7/10
Pau Torres – 4/10
Ian Maatsen – 6/10
Amadou Onana – 7/10
Boubacar Kamara – 6/10
John McGinn – 6/10
Morgan Rogers – 8/10
Evann Guessand – 5/10
Ollie Watkins – 9/10
Substitutes
Lucas Digne – 5/10
Youri Tielemans – 5/10
Donyell Malen – 7/10
Emi Buendia – 6/10
Lamare Bogarde – 6/10
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