If either Aston Villa or Brighton have ambitions to reach Europe, they will need 2025 to start better than 2024 ended. The match began and concluded as ninth against 10th after Tariq Lamptey was the unlikely hero with a late equaliser to punish the hosts for missing a glut of chances.
Villa have won four of their past 15 matches this year, while Brighton are winless in seven to make them the poster boys for midtable mediocrity at the halfway point of the season. Goals from Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers had put Villa into the lead after Simon Adingra’s opener and the hosts sensed victory until Lamptey scored his third goal in 95 league games for Brighton to level with less than 10 minutes to go.
