Aston Villa were left disappointed as they fell to a 1-0 defeat away at Brighton.
With Tottenham facing Liverpool later on Sunday, Villa had the opportunity to really put the pressure on the side below them in the battle for the fourth Champions League spot but failed to grasp it.
The first-half was a drab affair, with Villa struggling to get going after their Europa Conference League semi-final on Thursday night.
The hangover from that 4-2 loss at home to Olympiacos was clear to see and Unai Emery‘s side went in at half-time having only managed to muster one shot on target.
Morgan Rogers was withdrawn after just 26 minutes through injury and Villa fans will be concerned given the recent form of the youngster signed in January.
Villa started the second-half with much more intent but still struggled to threaten the Brighton goal in an uncharacteristically blunt display.
Brighton regained control as the second 45 went on and eventually took the lead from the penalty spot after Ezri Konsa clumsily took down Simon Adingra.
Now, Villa must dust themselves off ready for the second-leg against Olympiacos on Thursday night where they will hope to reach their first European final since 1981.
Aston Villa player ratings v Brighton
Here is how we rated the individual performance of the Villa players in the Brighton defeat.
Robin Olsen – 9
Made a flurry of important contributions before the end of the first-half, with the save from Pascal Gross the pick of the bunch.
Brave to claim at the feet of Simon Adingra and was caught leaving Villa fans’ hearts in their mouths with Emi Martinez also out.
Made another crucial stop to prevent Joao Pedro in the second-half and even saved the Brazilian’s penalty but was unfortunate to see Pedro first to react to the stop to head home.
Ezri Konsa – 5
Played right-back with Matty Cash dropping to the bench and was up against Brighton’s best player on the day in Adingra.
Struggled against the Brighton winger all day long before clumsily bringing him down for the Brighton penalty late on.
Diego Carlos – 5
Was lucky that Pascal Gross was marginally ahead of the ball for Brighton’s disallowed goal as he was more concerned with appealing rather than stopping the German from prodding home.
Aside from that he did reasonably well up against the lively Danny Welbeck but is likely to return to the bench on Thursday.
Pau Torres – 7
Lucky to escape a yellow card in the first-half for a late challenge but offers more quality and patience in possession than Clement Lenglet who got the nod on Thursday.
Made a crucial intervention to deny Danny Welbeck a tap-in on 59 minutes and also put Pedro under enough pressure not long after to allow his goalkeeper to save not long after.
Lucas Digne – 6
Had a relatively comfortable afternoon as most of Brighton’s attacking play came down the other flank. Did not offer too much in an attacking sense in a quiet day for the Frenchman.
Douglas Luiz – 6
Recovered well from a torrid night on Thursday and was solid if not spectacular.
Needs to get back to his best if Villa’s season is going to end how their fans hope it will.
John McGinn – 7
Needs to stop taking unnecessary risks around his own box in possession but drove his side up the pitch well at times, particularly at the start of the second-half.
Did put the ball in the back of the net but was clearly offside despite an unnecessarily long VAR review.
Leon Bailey – 4
Started on the right and looked tired after Thursday’s European exploits. Moved to the left to allow Cash to play as the right midfielder which suited him less and it showed.
Lost possession 15 times according to Sofascore and it was a surprise to see him not come off as he looked a player badly in need of a rest ahead of Thursday.
Morgan Rogers – N/A
Went off injured after 26 minutes with Villa hoping he will return swiftly.
Moussa Diaby – 5
Started wide on the left with Emery deciding to play Rogers as the attacking midfielder and struggled along with his side to get going in the first 45 minutes.
Moved centrally when Rogers went off which allowed him to get more involved but was surprisingly the player replaced by Jhon Duran on 73 minutes when perhaps it should have been Bailey.
Ollie Watkins – 4
Very quiet in the first-half and ran into bodies with his only chance after a clever touch to take him into the box.
Equally anonymous in the second-half in a really disappointing display from a player in such great form.
Substitutions:
Matty Cash – 6
Will have been disappointed not to start but replaced the injured Rogers on 26 minutes and played more advanced than usual on the right of the midfield.
Fired a decent strike narrowly wide from outside the box in the second-half and tried to be positive in possession.
Jhon Duran – 5/10.
Calum Chambers – N/A.
Alex Moreno – N/A.
The post Watkins one of two 4/10s, MOTM gets 9/10: Aston Villa player ratings after 1-0 defeat v Brighton appeared first on Aston Villa News.