BIRMINGHAM – Aston Villa ground out a last-gasp 2-1 home win over 10-man Brighton & Hove Albion in a gripping Premier League clash after the visitors took the lead and then had Aaron Mooy sent off on Saturday.
Matt Targett struck a stoppage-time winner for Villa, who fell behind to an Adam Webster header in the 21st minute before Aaron Mooy was shown two yellow cards for a pair of crunching fouls.
Villa’s Conor Hourihane had a goal disallowed by VAR in the 42nd minute before Jack Grealish levelled on the stroke of halftime following a Frederic Guilbert cross.
Brighton enjoyed the lion’s share of the possession in a rip-roaring first half and missed a string of chances as Villa keeper Tom Heaton pulled off several superb saves while the visitors were also guilty of poor finishing.
Heaton’s counterpart Mat Ryan also did well to deny the home side on several occasions, particularly when he kept out a Hourihane sitter shortly after the break with Anwar El Ghazi blazing the rebound over the bar.
Just when Brighton appeared to have weathered Villa’s second-half onslaught, Targett was left with time and space to fire the winner past Ryan after a fine pass from Grealish.