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Game #5601

Aston Villa

Saturday, 20 November 2021

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Won

15th (-)

Last 5: 🟥 🟥 🟥 🟥 🟩

Premier League

Brighton & Hove Albion

Villa Park

Attendance: 41,925

🟩 20 November 2021, Villa 2-0 Brighton, Villa Park.

Aston Villa

2-0

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Brighton & Hove Albion

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🟩 20 November 2021, Villa 2-0 Brighton, Villa Park.

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MATCH TIMELINE

Saturday, 20 November 2021

⏱️ | HT Aston Villa 0-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
🟨 | 59’ Booking, Marvelous Nakamba
🔁 | 66’ Sub off, Danny Ings, Sub on, Leon Bailey
🔁 | 74’ Sub off, Emiliano Buendía, Sub on, Ashley Young
🔁 | 84’ Sub off, Jacob Ramsey, Sub on, Anwar El Ghazi
⚽ | 84’ Goal, 1-0, Ollie Watkins, Assist by Ashley Young
⚽ | 89’ Goal, 2-0, Tyrone Mings
🟨 | 90’+3 Booking, Ezri Konsa
🟨 | 90’+4 Booking, Matty Cash
⏱️ | FT Aston Villa 2-0 Brighton & Hove Albion

Match Statistics

Possession F | 37%
Possession A | 63%
Shots F | 9
Shots A | 6
Shots on Target F | 5
Shots on Target A | 2
Corners F | 5
Corners A | 6
Fouls F | 7
Fouls A | 13

🟩 20 November 2021, Villa 2-0 Brighton, Villa Park.

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ON THIS DAY

Saturday, 20 November 2021

  • Villa taste victory for the first time in six in Steven Gerrard's first game in charge.

  • Ezri Konsa collects his 10th booking on his 80th appearance in a Villa shirt (76 Starts) since his debut in August 2019 to make it W31 D15 L34, 4 Goals, 3 Assists, 10 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

  • Marvelous Nakamba makes his 60th appearance in a Villa shirt since his debut in August 2019 to make it W23 D10 L27 and 12 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

  • Ollie Watkins makes his 50th appearance for the club (47th Start) since his debut in September 2020 to record W21 D7 L22, 18 Goals, 4 Assists, 6 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

  • Matt Targett secures his 30th win in a Villa shirt on his 82nd appearance (81 Starts) to make it W30 D15 L37, 2 Goals, 5 Assists and 13 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

  • Danny Ings makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt since his debut in August 2021 to make it W4 D1 L5, 3 Goals, 2 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

🟩 20 November 2021, Villa 2-0 Brighton, Villa Park.

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DEBUT APPEARANCES

None

FINAL APPEARANCES

None

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Aston Villa

European Cup / Champions League: 🏆
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1995-96

Brighton & Hove Albion

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European Cup / Champions League: ❌
League Champions: ❌
FA Cup Winners: ❌
League Cup Winners: ❌
Last Trophy: ❌

Aston Villa

Brighton & Hove Albion

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FIXTURE HISTORY

Villa v

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Brighton & Hove Albion

Previous 5 vs. Brighton: 🟩 🟩 🟨 🟥 🟨

🟩 20 November 2021, Villa 2-0 Brighton, Villa Park.

FIXTURE DETAILS

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Season | 2021-22 |
Matchday | #14 |
League Match | #12 |
Manager Game | #1 |
Saturday, 20 November 2021
Attendance | 41,925 |

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🟩 20 November 2021, Villa 2-0 Brighton, Villa Park.

MATCH SUMMARY

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Manager: Steven Gerrard | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Merseyside, 2021-2022
Referee: Anthony Taylor | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Wythenshaw, 2006-
Kick off: 3.00pm
Half Time Score: 🟨 0-0
Full Time Result: 🟩 Won
Full Time Score: 🟩 2-0
Last 5: 🟥 🟥 🟥 🟥 🟩

Scorers
Timeline
On This Day
Trophies
Matches
Fixture

MANAGERIAL RECORD

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Steven Gerrard | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2021-2022

GAMES | WINS | DRAWS | LOSSES | POINTS PER GAME

🕒 1 | 🟩 | 1 🟨 | 0 🟥 0 | 3.00

Villa Career Form:

Champions

ALL THE MATCHES LED BY:

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Steven Gerrard | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2021-2022

🟩 20 November 2021, Villa 2-0 Brighton, Villa Park.

MATCH OFFICIALS

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Referee: Anthony Taylor | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Wythenshaw, 2006-
Matches Officiated: 24
🟩 : 9
🟨 : 4
🟥 : 11
🆘 : 4
Previous 5: 🟥 🟥 🟥 🟨 🟩
Last Match: 🟩 26 Dec 20, Villa 3-0 Palace (h)
Cards: 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨
Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn.
Fourth official: Stuart Attwell.
VAR: Peter Bankes.
Assistant VAR: Lee Betts.

ALL THE MATCHES REFEREED BY:

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CARDS

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🟨 Marvelous Nakamba
🟨 Ezri Konsa
🟨 Matty Cash

🟨 Adam Webster
🟨 Marc Cucurella
🟨 Alexis Mac Allister

🟩 20 November 2021, Villa 2-0 Brighton, Villa Park.

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TEAM NEWS

TEAM STATS

Steven Gerrard names his first Villa squad and recalls Ezri Konsa and Danny Ings following suspension and illness respectively whilst Jacob Ramsey is promoted from the bench.

Dropping out are Axel Tuanzebe, Anwar El Ghazi and Leon Bailey who all take their place on the bench alongside Morgan Sanson following his return from injury,

Jaden Philogene-Bidace, Aaron Ramsey and Cameron Archer drop out of the squad.

Starting XI Average Age: 26.26
Oldest Player: F Danny Ings | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 29.70 |
Youngest Player: M Jacob Ramsey | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 20.50 |

Referee
Manager

🟩 20 November 2021, Villa 2-0 Brighton, Villa Park.

MANAGER

Steven Gerrard | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2021-2022

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Aston Villa

GK Emiliano Martínez | 🇦🇷 |
LB Matt Targett | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CB Ezri Konsa | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🟨 |
CB Tyrone Mings | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | ⚽ |
RB Matty Cash | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇵🇱 | 🟨 |
M John McGinn | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 |
M Marvelous Nakamba | 🇿🇼 | 🟨 |
M Jacob Ramsey | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🔁 |
W Emiliano Buendía | 🇦🇷 | 🔁 |
CF Danny Ings | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🔁 |
CF Ollie Watkins | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | ⚽ |

MANAGER

Graham Potter | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

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Brighton & Hove Albion

GK Jason Steele | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
RB Tariq Lamptey | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🔁 |
CB Lewis Dunk | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CB Adam Webster | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🟨 |
CB Shane Duffy | 🇮🇪 |
M Pascal Groß | 🇩🇪 | 🔁 |
M Yves Bissouma | 🇲🇱 |
M Adam Lallana | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M Jakub Moder | 🇵🇱 |
W Marc Cucurella | 🇪🇸 | 🟨 | 🔁 |
W Leandro Trossard | 🇧🇪 |

Line Ups

🟩 20 November 2021, Villa 2-0 Brighton, Villa Park.

SUBSTITUTES

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🔁 | W Leon Bailey | 🇯🇲 | for CF Danny Ings | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 66’ |
🔁 | RB Ashley Young | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🔥 | for W Emiliano Buendía | | 🇦🇷 | 74’ |
🔁 | W Anwar El Ghazi | 🇳🇱 | for M Jacob Ramsey | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 84’ |

SUBSTITUTES

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🔁 | M Solly March | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | for W Marc Cucurella | 🇪🇸 | 64’ |
🔁 | CF Neal Maupay | 🇫🇷 | for RB Tariq Lamptey | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 79’ |
🔁 | M Alexis Mac Allister | 🇦🇷 | 🟨 | for M Pascal Groß | 🇩🇪 | 88’ |

Substitutes

🟩 20 November 2021, Villa 2-0 Brighton, Villa Park.

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

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GK Jed Steer | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CB Kortney Hause | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CB Axel Tuanzebe | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M Morgan Sanson | 🇫🇷 |
M Carney Chukwuemeka | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CF Keinan Davis | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

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GK Kjell Scherpen | 🇳🇱 |
CB Dan Burn | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
RB Joël Veltman | 🇳🇱 |
M Taylor Richards | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M Jeremy Sarmiento | 🇪🇨 |
CF Jürgen Locadia | 🇳🇱 |

Player Positions:

GK : Goalkeeper
CB, D, B : Centre Back, Defender, Back
FB, LB, RB, WH : Full Back, Left Back, Right Back, Wing Back, Wing Half


M, CH, LH, RH : Midfielder, Centre Half, Left Half, Right Half
W, OL, OR : Winger, Outside Left, Outside Right
F, IF, IL, IR : Forward, Inside Forward, Inside Left, Inside Right, Second Striker, False 9
CF : Centre Forward

Match Symbols:

⚽ | Goal
🔥 | Assist
🔁 | Substitution

🟨 | Booking

🟥 | Sending off

🆘 | Poor refereeing performance
🟢 : Debut 🔴 : Final Game

Squad Bios

🟩 20 November 2021, Villa 2-0 Brighton, Villa Park.

SQUAD STATS

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1st XI Cost: £181.06m
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 7/11
Homegrown: 1/11
Subs Cost: £36.90m
Team Cost: £217.96m
Squad Cost: £235.72m
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 13/20
Homegrown: 3/20

SQUAD STATS

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1st XI Cost: £87.82m
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 5/11
Homegrown: 1/11
Subs Cost: £27.20m
Team Cost: £115.02m
Squad Cost: £139.91m
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 8/20
Homegrown: 2/20

🟩 20 November 2021, Villa 2-0 Brighton, Villa Park.

MATCHDAY SQUAD

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GK Emiliano Martínez | 🇦🇷 | £19.58m |
GK Jed Steer | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £0.49m |

RB Matty Cash | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇵🇱 | £14.18m |
LB Matt Targett | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £14.04m |
RB Ashley Young | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Free |

CB Tyrone Mings | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £20.60m |
CB Ezri Konsa | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £11.97m |
CB Kortney Hause | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £2.70m |
CB Axel Tuanzebe | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Loan |

M Morgan Sanson | 🇫🇷 | £14.22m |
M Marvelous Nakamba | 🇿🇼 | £10.80m |
M John McGinn | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | £2.79m |
M Jacob Ramsey | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Youth |
M Carney Chukwuemeka | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Youth |

W Emiliano Buendía | 🇦🇷 | £34.56m |
W Leon Bailey | 🇯🇲 | £28.80m |
W Anwar El Ghazi | 🇳🇱 | £8.10m |

F Danny Ings | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £31.59m |
CF Ollie Watkins | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £27.72m |
CF Keinan Davis | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Free |

MATCHDAY SQUAD

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GK Kjell Scherpen | 🇳🇱 | £4.50m |
GK Jason Steele | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Free |

RB Tariq Lamptey | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £1.08m |
RB Joël Veltman | 🇳🇱 | £0.90m |

CB Adam Webster | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £20.00m |
CB Shane Duffy | 🇮🇪 | £4.73m |
CB Dan Burn | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £3.20m |
CB Lewis Dunk | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Youth |

M Yves Bissouma | 🇲🇱 | £15.21m |
M Jakub Moder | 🇵🇱 | £9.90m |
M Alexis Mac Allister 🇦🇷 | £7.20m |
M Pascal Groß | 🇩🇪 | £2.70m |
M Taylor Richards | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £0.99m |
M Solly March 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Youth |
M Adam Lallana | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Free |
M Jeremy Sarmiento | 🇪🇨 | Free |

W Leandro Trossard | 🇧🇪 | £18.00m |
W Marc Cucurella | 🇪🇸 | £16.20m |

CF Neal Maupay 🇫🇷 | £20.00m |
CF Jürgen Locadia | 🇳🇱 | £15.30m |

🟩 20 November 2021, Villa 2-0 Brighton, Villa Park.

UNAVAILABLE

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Injury | 3 |
W Trézéguet | 🇪🇬 | Ligament, 21 Apr 2021 [22]
W Bertrand Traoré | 🇧🇫 | Thigh, 16 Oct 2021 [5]
M Douglas Luiz | 🇧🇷 | 31 Oct 2021 [3]

Out On Loan | 3 |
CF Wesley | 🇧🇷 | Club Brugge
M Conor Hourihane | 🇮🇪 | Sheffield United
RB Frédéric Guilbert | 🇫🇷 | Strasbourg

UNAVAILABLE

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Not Recorded

Unavailable

LEAGUE TABLE

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MATCHDAY PROGRAMME

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Tables & Programmes

🟩 20 November 2021, Villa 2-0 Brighton, Villa Park.

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MATCH QUOTES

“It was nice. I try and do that every time in training and luckily it went in today. It was a nice feeling to get my first goal in front of the Holte End. “Brighton must have had 65% possession - they are a very good team and controlled the game. It was hard for us because it was the first game back after some bad results. It was nice to see the game out after losing a 2-0 lead against Wolves the other week. “It has been a change but it has been really good. It has been intense and the standards have gone up - that is no disrespect to Dean Smith but he’s brought in some new rules and everybody was on it. “I’ll be here all day if I was to say the rules - there are quite a few.” Ollie Watkins. ”It feels really good and it was the result that we dreamt of. It was the perfect start for us but now we’ve got to go and prove that we can back it up. I’m really pleased with the clean sheet and everything we asked of the players they’ve done. I thought we deserved it - Brighton had a lot of possession but in the areas that we wanted them to. It is a good start but we’ve got to back it up now. “There is no better sight in football than a top number nine opening up like that and putting a top class finish in. The Holte End played their part today as did the rest of the ground. You can only win games if you defend your goal well and there were two top quality blocks in the first half. “We’d lost five on the spin and you could tell the crowd were edgy and the players were at times. I thought the subs brought a lot and we looked so dangerous in the last 10 minutes of the game. We could have scored another. We know we’ve got firepower and talented players - we’ve just got to get the balance right to defend our goal.” Steven Gerrard.
Quotes

🟩 20 November 2021, Villa 2-0 Brighton, Villa Park.

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MATCH REPORTS

Opens in New Window

*The Guardian*
Saturday, 20 November 2021

Late goals against Brighton get Steven Gerrard off to perfect start at Aston Villa With six minutes to play, Ollie Watkins lashed a shot into the far corner to give Aston Villa lift-off and the touchline turned into Steven Gerrard’s runway. He jubilantly jumped into the arms of the technical coach, Tom Culshaw, part of his entourage from Rangers, raced clear of his technical area and swivelled towards the Trinity Road Stand before repeatedly punching the air with both fists. Gerrard’s last act in the Premier League had been scoring for Liverpool in a thrashing at Stoke six years ago but, for a moment, it was almost as if he had never been away. Things got even better too, Tyrone Mings firing in from close range to seal victory and end Villa’s five-match losing streak. Gerrard set off again following Mings’s 89th-minute strike, this time towards the Brighton technical area before, sensibly, halting his run. At that point, it was pure pandemonium in the home dugout and beyond. A synchronised Holte End made their joy known and before leaving the field Gerrard, together with his players, made a point of going over to thank them for their support. “They are the buzzes and the highs you certainly miss as a player,” Gerrard said of the late goals. “That is why I wanted to stay in the game. That is my medicine, if you like. I love seeing the players happy and smiling.” This victory over Brighton meant Gerrard became the first Villa manager since Gerard Houllier, his former manager at Liverpool, to win their first league game in charge. The pitchside cameras were trained on Gerrard’s every move and outside the ground, before a sellout crowd flooded through the turnstiles, his name was on the lips of supporters, his face plastered on to a sign on Trinity Road – the most explicit example of Gerrard fever. He did not take charge of his first training session until Monday and some players, such as the Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, did not return home until later in the week but, regardless, Gerrard promised his team would be aggressive. His entrance was decidedly more low-key, striding out of the tunnel in a black trenchcoat and high-fiving a young fan before subtly applauding all corners. Then, hands in pockets, he allowed himself the briefest of moments to survey the scene after shaking hands with Graham Potter, taking charge of his 100th Brighton game. Gerrard said his stomach had been “doing somersaults” in anticipation of taking charge of his first game here and the mood among supporters was similar. Brighton did an impressive job of muting the atmosphere and Martinez saved well to deny Leandro Trossard. Villa teased patches of quality – Matty Cash and Jacob Ramsey both attacked with thrust – but were too often clumsy in possession. Brighton were anything but, a delicious cross by Marc Cucurella eluding Trossard at the end of a slick move that began 70 yards away with Shane Duffy, and into two minutes of first-half stoppage time, Tariq Lamptey saw an effort blocked by Martinez. Danny Ings was guilty of failing to make the most of Villa’s best first-half opening but they finished strong. The same cannot be said for Brighton who, despite the clamour surrounding Potter, are winless in eight. “I didn’t feel we were really under any danger until they scored,” Potter said. “We gave ourselves a chance to win the game but ultimately we didn’t score.” Brighton appeared most likely to strike late but the Villa substitutes Ashley Young, with whom Gerrard played for England, Leon Bailey and Anwar El Ghazi provided some welcome impetus after Potter’s side had subdued the hosts. Bailey’s high cross troubled Jason Steele, the Brighton goalkeeper who unconvincingly punched clear to John McGinn but the Villa midfielder, seemingly caught in two minds, dawdled and allowed Webster to rake the ball away from danger. But six minutes from time Watkins got Gerrard’s Villa up and running, sending a rasping shot into the net and then Mings, in the right place at the right time after Adam Webster’s clearance, wrapped up victory Off Gerrard went again, bundling down the sidelines in his brogues. “You should see me in staff games, five v five or six v six,” he smiled. “I want to win. I’m a competitor. I want to at times show emotion and I’ll always be as authentic as I can. If anyone doubted what it meant to me to be in this position, just watch me after those goals. Inside me is what was inside me as a player, that will to win, that drive and energy. I will always be authentic.” --- *BBC Sport* Saturday, 20 November 2021 Ollie Watkins and Tyrone Mings scored in the final six minutes as Steven Gerrard enjoyed a memorable first match as Aston Villa manager with victory over Brighton. Gerrard’s bow as a Premier League boss looked set to end in a goalless stalemate until his side broke from an 84th-minute Brighton corner. Villa went the full length of the field as substitute Ashley Young sent Watkins running down the left wing, with the England forward cutting inside the box before delivering a smart finish beyond Jason Steele. A minute from time, the hosts got their second as Adam Webster’s attempt to clear John McGinn’s cross went straight to Mings, who finished at the first attempt. Villa might have had a third but Steele did well to deny Leon Bailey in stoppage time. The victory ended a run of five straight defeats for Villa, with Gerrard taking applause from all sides of the ground before running down the tunnel in obvious delight. Gerrard’s joy After taking the applause of the home fans as he made his way to the dugout, it didn’t take Gerrard long to be claiming for every free-kick, booking or penalty that it was possible for his side to get in a first half of limited chances. It is fairly obvious to say Villa have no-one in their squad who could come close to a favourable comparison to their new manager in his playing pomp. They do have some useful performers though, in new Poland international Matty Cash, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and skipper Mings. But they looked limited in the final third. Until the sensational ending, their best chances came from headers by Cash and Mings, which Premier League debutant Steele made brave saves to repel. Villa’s club record £33m signing Emiliano Buendia was again a muted force and it was no real surprise when he was replaced by Young for the final 16 minutes. What this club does have - and the attraction for Gerrard - is a massive fanbase and a great history. ‘Iconic’, was the word Gerrard used in his programme notes. And by the time the final whistle went, Villa Park was a cauldron of noise as the home fans celebrated their first win since September. Blunt Brighton Amid the noise around Dean Smith’s exit and Gerrard’s appointment, it had almost been overlooked that Brighton’s excellent start to the season has now given way to a run of seven games without a win in all competitions, their worst run in almost a year. Graham Potter’s side retain the confidence to keep possession and maintain their patience as they look for openings but they still find a killer touch elusive. After Villa’s initial thrusts the Seagulls controlled long periods of the game, denying the hosts any time on the ball while they enjoyed plenty of it, albeit in areas of the field that were not of any particular danger. Martinez, fresh from keeping the clean sheet against Brazil that secured World Cup qualification for Argentina, made the two most notable saves, beating away an angled Leandro Trossard drive before spreading himself to deny Tariq Lamptey. Lamptey is slowly returning to form after injury but despite the promptings of Adam Lallana and Yves Bissouma from midfield, once Villa broke the deadlock, there was never any realistic hope of an equaliser.
Reports

🟩 20 November 2021, Villa 2-0 Brighton, Villa Park.

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