Aston Villa 2-2 Brighton: Points are shared at Villa Park as Seagulls strike late equaliser to deny hosts fourth straight home victory Unai Emery waved goodbye to 2024 with an extraordinary blast at Premier League officials but the Aston Villa boss should save his anger for his wasteful team.
Villa should have been out of sight long before Tariq Lamptey equalised for Brighton nine minutes from time and this time Emery could blame nobody but the men in claret and blue in front of him.
Furious that Villa’s appeal against the red card shown to Jhon Duran at Newcastle on Boxing Day was dismissed, Emery had used his programme notes to launch an attack on referees’ chiefs – specifically, their use of VAR.
Referee Craig Pawson was advised by the team at Stockley Park to award Villa a penalty when Joao Pedro clattered Rogers as he tried to clear his lines.
Brighton battled to earn a tough point away at Aston Villa after facing 19 shots on goal.
