Brighton 1-2 Aston Villa: Player ratings as Ings double earns Villans first away win
Aston Villa continued their resurgence under Unai Emery by coming from behind to beat Brighton at the AMEX on Sunday afternoon thanks to two strikes from Danny Ings.
Alexis Mac Allister had put the Seagulls ahead 49 seconds into the contest by winning possession high up the pitch and cooly finishing, but a rash challenge from Lewis Dunk allowed Ings to convert from the penalty spot before the former Southampton striker hit the winner from close range in the second half.
The victory takes Villa up to 12th in the Premier League, while Brighton drop to seventh.
The Villans have travelled horribly so far this season and made another shocking start on the road as they fell behind in the opening minute. Mac Allister caught out Douglas Luiz on the edge of the visitors' box and lashed his effort past his fellow Argentina World Cup squad member Emiliano Martinez for the opener.
Villa soon grew into the game after some opening dominance from Brighton, with Pervis Estupinan clearing just before an Ings cross could put the hosts in any danger. They were level moments later, however, aided by a poor challenge from Dunk.
The centre back slid in on John McGinn who beat him to the ball and had his legs swept away. While Robert Sanchez got a hand to the penalty, Ings' central strike was too powerful and beat the Spaniard to bring VIlla level.
Brighton looked the more dangerous side at 1-1, with Pascal Gross almost scoring straight from a corner but seeing it batted away by Martinez, though Villa's direct passing caused some problems in the Seagulls' defence.
That direct play saw Villa go 2-1 ahead. Moments after Emiliano Buendia struck the post with a flying header, Luiz pinched the ball off Mac Allister in similar fashion to Brighton's opener and fed Ings, who sat down Dunk and fired past Sanchez via a Levi Colwill deflection.
Villa would see out the final stages - including eight minutes of added time - in the face of Brighton pressure to earn their second league win under Emery, leaving Roberto De Zerbi with defeat after three straight victories in all competitions.
Brighton player ratings
GK: Robert Sanchez (6); RB: Pascal Gross (6), CB: Levi Colwill (7), CB: Lewis Dunk (6), LB: Pervis Estupinan (7); CM: Alexis Mac Allister (8), CM: Moises Caicedo (7); RW: Solly March (6), AM: Adam Lallana (6), LW: Leandro Trossard 6); ST: Danny Welbeck (6).
SUB: Julio Enciso (6), Deniz Undav (6), Joel Veltman (6), Tariq Lamptey (6).
Aston Villa player ratings
GK: Emiliano Martinez (7); RB: Matty Cash (7); CB: Ezri Konsa (7); CB: Tyrone Mings (7); LB: Lucas Digne (7); RM: John McGinn (7), CM: Boubacar Kamara (7), CM: Douglas Luiz (7), LM: Jacob Ramsey (6); ST: Danny Ings (9); ST: Emiliano Buendia (7).
SUB: Ashley Young (6), Leon Bailey (6), Leander Dendoncker (6), Cameron Archer (6), Ludwig Augustinsson (6).