Joao Gomes won’t forget his Aston Villa debut in a hurry. On his early return from injury, the midfielder started an awful performance with a yellow card and ended it with a straight red. He played 39 minutes and Villa were already 4-0 down.
Their first half at Brighton & Hove Albion in the first Premier League match of the season was reflected in Gomes’ display and was a brutal reminder that decimating a football team by ripping out its spine is going to make life difficult.
