Aston Villa ended a hugely successful 2024 with a disappointing 2-2 draw against Brighton as they failed to close the gap on the Premier League’s top four. Villa started the year by reaching a Europa Conference League semi-final and qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in their history.
But their ambitions of finishing in the top four again look to be hamstrung by inconsistency which has produced results like this. Ollie Watkins looked to be Villa’s hero as he celebrated his birthday in style with a goal and an assist to put his side 2-1 up after Simon Adingra’s early opener for Brighton.
But Unai Emery’s men could not see it out and succumbed to an 81st-minute leveller by Tariq Lamptey. The draw sees both sides on the periphery of the European places, with Brighton’s winless run continuing to seven games. The Seagulls took a 12th-minute lead with a real route one goal.
Ezri Konsa failed to deal with Lewis Dunk’s long ball over the top and it fell to Adingra, who composed himself and fired into the bottom corner. Villa were not at the races and could have been 2-0 down before the half-hour as Emiliano Martinez was forced into a full-stretch save to keep out Julio Enciso’s shot before Jan Paul van Hecke put a free header wide from the resulting corner.
The hosts finally came to life and levelled after a crazy period which saw two VAR checks for penalties. The first came after Morgan Rogers appeared to be chopped down by Van Hecke, but VAR Stuart Attwell did not think there was enough evidence to overrule referee Craig Dawson’s on-field decision.
