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 bid farewell to 2024 with an extraordinary bang against Premier League officials, but the Aston Villa boss must save his anger for his profligate team.

Villa should have been out of sight long before Tariq Lamptey equalized for Brighton nine minutes from time and this time Emery had no one to blame but the men in claret and blue in front of him.

After Simon Adingra had given the visitors the lead, goals either side of half-time from Ollie Watkins – a penalty – and Morgan Rogers should have put Villa within three points. But they couldn’t find the killing blow and Lamptey punished them.

Furious that Villa’s appeal against the red card shown to Jhon Duran at Newcastle on Boxing Day was rejected, Emery had used his program notes to launch an attack on the referee chiefs – particularly their use of VAR.

Emery believes VAR is using too much to support the referees on the pitch rather than making the right decisions – although he may have changed his tune at half-time. Referee Craig Pawson was advised by the Stockley Park team to award Villa a penalty when Joao Pedro Rogers clattered while trying to clear his lines.

Watkins, recalled due to Duran’s suspension, scored from the spot on his 29th and Rogers hit the second shortly after half-time. Fabian Hurzeler’s men somehow managed to hold on and ultimately earned their reward.

Villa are now ninth and missed the chance to move closer to the top four with a win

Unai Emery’s inconsistent side have won just four of their last fifteen games in all competitions

Emery concluded his rant on the program by saying he hoped no one would talk about refereeing decisions in this match. Anyone who had read that would have known what would happen next.

As Brighton led through Simon Adingra’s goal, Morgan Rogers claimed a penalty when he tumbled under Jan Paul van Hecke’s challenge from behind. Referee Craig Pawson signaled a corner and VAR Stuart Attwell saw no reason to intervene as Emery took out his frustration on fourth official Gavin Ward.

He didn’t have to wait long for a call in Villa’s favour. Bart Verbruggen blurted out the resulting corner and Joao Pedro kicked Rogers in the ankle as he tried to clear. This time VAR intervened and awarded Pawson – encouraged from close range by Emi Martinez – a penalty after two minutes of deliberation.

Watkins sent Verbruggen the wrong way from twelve meters and seemed to celebrate in a pointed manner, gesturing to himself and then to the field.

That was exactly what Villa needed after poor defending let Albion in. Ezri Konsa was unable to deal with Lewis Dunk’s ball over the top and was stopped by Pedro, allowing Adingra to sneak past Pau Torres and beat Martinez with an angled effort.

Earlier, the game was delayed for five minutes due to Pedro’s head injury after colliding with Boubacar Kamara. Add to that the VAR stoppages, plus Torres’ early departure due to injury, and Brighton had to survive 12 minutes of extra time at the end of the first half.

They managed to get through, more because of Villa’s rash finishing than their own strong defence. Watkins shot into the side netting and struck across goal when he should have been feeding John McGinn. Leon Bailey also found some excellent positions but couldn’t make them when he got there.

Rogers’ first-half booking for a foul on Carlos Baleba means he will be ruled out of Saturday’s meeting with Leicester. The Villa man needed just 72 seconds in the second half to show his team what they will be missing.

The Seagulls took an early lead but were almost left empty-handed without Lamptey’s equalizer

Verbruggen was again exposed under the high ball and when Brighton couldn’t run away, Kamara found Watkins. His clipped pass left the visitors’ defensive line wanting and Rogers checked on his chest to drive Villa ahead.

The home team now found space at will while Brighton struggled to keep their heads above water. Bailey again managed to get past the hapless Igor Julio, but failed to select a teammate, and Verbruggen pushed away Lucas Digne’s cross at full speed. Watkins climbed well to meet Digne’s cross, but planted his header too close to Verbruggen.

The introduction of Kaoru Mitoma gave Brighton some more attacking threat, but the danger did not diminish at the other end, with Youri Tielemans last to go close after a four-on-three counter-attack.

With only a one-goal lead, Villa were always vulnerable and Joao Pedro scored a good chance after Kamara had fumbled on the ball.

And the home side were punished for being so wasteful when Lamptey finished off a fine move involving Mitoma and Pedro by hammering past Martinez from 16 yards.

Watkins had one last chance to close the ball well into stoppage time, but fired his shot into the penalty area from a perfect spot.