Brighton and Hove Albion 3 Aston Villa 4
Two goals from Jan Paul van Hecke, one of them in the final 10 minutes, were not enough as Brighton and Hove Albion were beaten 4-3 by Aston Villa at the Amex.
Brighton and Hove Albion were defeated 4-3 by Aston Villa in a “seven-goal thriller” at the Amex Stadium on Wednesday, a result that propelled Villa into third place in the Premier League table, according to a report from Brighton and Hove News.
The hosts initially took the lead after only nine minutes when Jan Paul van Hecke, a Netherlands international, scored past his compatriot, Villa’s stand-in keeper Marco Bizot.
Brighton looked set to climb the table when they went two goals ahead in the 29th minute through an own goal from Pau Torres.
However, Ollie Watkins ended an 11-game goal drought with a first-half brace. He first responded to an attack from Ian Maatsen by turning a low cross home, before scoring his second goal during seven minutes of stoppage time following a “brutally effective counter-attack” from a Morgan Rogers pass.
Villa took the lead in the 60th minute when Amadou Onana outjumped De Cuyper to head home a corner. Substitute Donyell Malen made an “instant impact” 12 minutes from time, scuffing home the rebound after Bart Verbruggen saved the initial shot, making the score 4-2.
Van Hecke scored his second goal for Brighton in the 83rd minute “to set up a tense finale,” but Villa “clung on” after Bizot saved a stoppage-time header from Danny Welbeck.
The loss came on the night of skipper Lewis Dunk’s 500th appearance for the Seagulls.