Aston Villa 2 Brighton & Hove Albion 0
The new manager bounce scenario came to the fore as goal-shy Albion again had plenty of chances but lacked the killer instinct in front of goal.
Stand-in goalkeeper Jason Steele produced a number of good saves for the Seagulls but a late double left the hosts with the points.
John McGinn and Matty Cash combined well and Danny Ings drew a good save from Steele.
Cash also saw a header well dealt with by Albion’s Premier League debutant.
Leandro Trossard had a good chance for the Seagulls which Emiliano Martinez saved then, before half time, a good old-fashioned goalmouth scramble saw Trossard, Jakub Moder, Tariq Lamptey and Pacscal Gross all have some sort of effort on goal blocked or parried away.
The second half was a quiet affair until Ollie Watkins unleashed a fierce drive with six minutes left that put Villa in front.
Then, after it appeared that Adam Webster had palmed a McGinn cross away with his hand, he then miskicked a clearance straight to Tyrone Mings who fired in Villa’s second.
Albion drop to eighth in the Premier League for now, one place below Manchester United and one place above Crystal Palace.
The Seagulls are at home in the Premier League next Saturday (27 November) to Leeds United.
