A summer of change off the pitch for Aston Villa was followed by one of the worst opening 45 minutes of a season in Premier League history as Unai Emery's side collapsed at Brighton.
Last season's Europa League winners went into the new campaign having lost four of the players that started their 3-0 win over Freiburg in May. Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Lucas Digne and Ezri Konsa's exits could also soon be followed by two more first-team stars in Ollie Watkins and Emi Martinez, who were both left out of Villa's matchday squad at Brighton.
A new-look Villa went behind inside eight minutes in calamitous fashion as Victor Lindelof bundled into his own net before Brighton's Maxim De Cuyper doubled their advantage. Jack Hinshelwood then scored twice in two minutes before Villa's Joao Gomes, a £38m signing from Wolves, was sent off on his first Premier League appearance for his new club.
Hinshelwood's first goal was followed by another straight from kick-off. Gomes was caught in possession on the edge of his own box before Hinshelwood finished into an empty net for his second - just 80 seconds after his first.
It then went from bad to worse for debutant Gomes, who was earlier booked for waving an imaginary yellow card towards Pascal Gross, as he received a straight red card for kicking out at Georginio Rutter.
#minutes #villa
Last season's Europa League winners went into the new campaign having lost four of the players that started their 3-0 win over Freiburg in May. Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Lucas Digne and Ezri Konsa's exits could also soon be followed by two more first-team stars in Ollie Watkins and Emi Martinez, who were both left out of Villa's matchday squad at Brighton.
A new-look Villa went behind inside eight minutes in calamitous fashion as Victor Lindelof bundled into his own net before Brighton's Maxim De Cuyper doubled their advantage. Jack Hinshelwood then scored twice in two minutes before Villa's Joao Gomes, a £38m signing from Wolves, was sent off on his first Premier League appearance for his new club.
Hinshelwood's first goal was followed by another straight from kick-off. Gomes was caught in possession on the edge of his own box before Hinshelwood finished into an empty net for his second - just 80 seconds after his first.
It then went from bad to worse for debutant Gomes, who was earlier booked for waving an imaginary yellow card towards Pascal Gross, as he received a straight red card for kicking out at Georginio Rutter.
#minutes #villa
21 hours ago
