Aston Villa fail to close gap on top four with draw at home to Brighton 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 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.
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.
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.
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.
