Aston Villa keep slim Premier League title hopes alive with late win over Brighton | OneFootball

Jack Hinshelwood scored a late own goal which handed Aston Villa a scrappy 1-0 Premier League victory over Brighton.

Tyrone Mings got the plaudits after his header forced Hinshelwood to put into his own net which took Villa back within six points of Arsenal in the title race, but more realistically a step closer to securing a place in the Champions League next season.

Fabian Hurzeler saw more pressure pile onto his shoulders after his side went a sixth game without a win to sit 14th in the table following consecutive losses.

Brighton introduced James Milner for Carlos Baleba for a record-equalling 653rd Premier League appearance inside the first period and went level with Gareth Barry, who has held the record since September 2017.

Following a stop-start first half, both sides started to play a little bit more football in the second period and Ferdi Kadioglu rattled the goalframe for the visitors and Milner seemed determined to get his name on the scoresheet.

After home defeats to Everton and Brentford, it looked like Villa would continue to stumble on their own patch before the winner and Mings thought he celebrated his 200th appearance in style with the winner before it was awarded to Hinshelwood.

Aston Villa forced Bart Verbruggen into making the first save of the contest, Jadon Sancho made a slick pass into Morgan Rogers, who fired straight at the Brighton goalkeeper from a tight angle.

Baleba was booked in the second minute and Hurzeler decided to bring him off midway through the first half for Milner.

Baleba was visibly distraught after slumping down on the Brighton bench and was pictured with his shirt over his head following his early substitution.

Villa came closest to opening the scoring on the stroke of half-time when Emi Buendia cut in and had a go from the edge of the box but went narrowly wide of the target as some parts of Villa Park thought the ball hit the back of the net.

Brighton did relatively nothing by the way of hurting the hosts but Danny Welbeck made sure Emi Martinez was alert between the Villa sticks with their first effort on target at the end of the half.

But the Seagulls’ ambitions of getting three points themselves grew after the interval and the crossbar came to Villa’s rescue when Kadioglu unleashed an effort which was tipped onto the upright by Martinez.

Milner had the chance to mark his special occasion with a goal but was unable to connect with Pascal Gross’ cross from inside the area, which left him with his head in his hands.

The 40-year-old seemed keen to match a goal with his record-equalling appearance though, he produced a smart snapshot which forced Martinez to make another save which almost dropped for the rushing Brighton attackers.

Villa Park breathed a huge sigh of relief but they were made to wait till the 85th minute when Leon Bailey’s corner was turned into his own goal by Hinshelwood, but Mings took the congratulations after he was mobbed by team-mates in the corner.