Brighton and Hove Albion 0 Aston Villa 2
The Seagulls suffered a second successive home defeat after another lacklustre performance at the Amex this afternoon.
Albion had only one shot on target – a weak effort from Neal Maupay which was easily gathered by Emiliano Martinez late on.
Villa opened the scoring after a Lucas Digne cross. The ball eventually fell to Matty Cash who rifled past Robert Sanchez to put the visitors in front on 20 minutes.
Brighton looked like responding, with Alexis Mac Allister firing a close-range shot that clipped the top of the crossbar.
Albion looked almost insipid at times.
Solly March seemed like a virtual passenger and choosing on occasions to pass backwards when presented with acres of space in front of him.
Early in the second half Philippe Countinho saw a free kick expertly tipped away by Sanchez.
Albion had plenty of the ball but no final product and continually failed to deliver in the key forward areas.
Villa went two up after a mistake from Joel Veltman let Ollie Watkins race clear and slot past Sanchez.
Despite Danny Welbeck coming on for Jakub Moder, the Seagulls looked distinctly toothless in attack and fans will be wondering if 33 points is enough.
