Aston Villa endured one of the poorest opening 45 minutes in Premier League history as they suffered a heavy 4-0 loss to Brighton.
Unai Emery’s team, who had no recognised centre forward after Ollie Watkins was omitted from the squad amid reported interest from Saudi club Al Hilal, conceded FOUR goals during an astonishing 31-minute spell before Joao Gomes made his Villa league debut even worse by receiving a straight red card shortly before half-time.
Villa had started positively, with Emi Buendia operating as their most advanced attacker and registering three attempts on goal within the opening 10 minutes. However, that promising beginning quickly disappeared as Brighton dominated proceedings and ran riot before the break.
Maxim De Cuyper capitalised on a poor pass from Pau Torres before seeing his effort deflect in off the post and Victor Lindelof, giving Brighton the advantage through an own goal.
Ten minutes later, De Cuyper added his name to the scoresheet by finishing Georginio Rutter’s cross, while Jack Hinshelwood’s quickfire double (30, 31) left Brighton in complete control.
Villa’s disastrous first half reached its lowest point five minutes before the interval when new signing Gomes, who had already received a booking, was dismissed following a VAR review for kicking out at Rutter.
The sending-off brought a miserable first half to an end for both Gomes and Villa. Emery’s side did, however, manage to prevent Brighton from adding further goals after the restart, restricting the damage caused by their costly collapse before half-time.
Following a turbulent summer at Villa Park, with key players Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Ezri Konsa and Lucas Digne departing, this represents a hugely damaging opening defeat for Villa. Emery now faces numerous questions to address with just over a week remaining before the summer transfer window closes.
