Premier League, 15th: Brighton-Aston-Villa 1-2

So it hurts. Roberto De Zerbi closes the first part of his Premier League adventure with Brighton by losing 2-1 at home to Aston Villa. It hurts because it is the last bitter morsel of a great start, because it closes a series of two Premier League victories to which was added the success at Arsenal in the Carabao Cup. It hurts because the seagulls had taken the lead after just 49 seconds and in the second half, collected 2-1 by the unleashed Danny Ings, decisive with a brace, they had found thanks to the changes of the coach the way to put the Villans on the ropes. They deserved at least the same, they leave the field defeated. The other side of the coin is the joy of Unai Emery, who is two out of two in the Premier League as a Villans coach.

The keys

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Instead of chilling the guests, Mac Allister’s goal after less than a minute sent De Zerbi’s team into a tailspin: no control of the flanks, so important in recent successes, difficulty in building and being dangerous in the uncertain (and smart ) Martinez, despite possession of the ball. Only in the second half, when after Ings De Zerbi’s second goal went to 3-4-3, Brighton returned to play, putting Emery’s team in clear difficulty. Before the holidays, De Zerbi will surely make him review the two goals they conceded: the penalty on 20 ‘is a courtesy of Dunk, who slides McGinn when it was clear that he could no longer catch him; the 2-1 in the 54th minute is an overall setting error, the one that condemns De Zerbi’s team to defeat, which arrives at the stop with 21 points in 14 games, the same as Chelsea.

Emery instead puts another brick on the relaunch of Aston Villa, his mission after the World Cup. Always square on the pitch, with Ings (the best of him) offensive reference point well helped by Buendia and McGinn’s forays, the Villans with the second win in a row arrive at the stop with 18 points in 15 games. It may not be that Europe march that the Birmingham team dreamed of at the start of the season, but it is a nice springboard from which to restart after Christmas.

The match

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Brighton takes 49 seconds to break the deadlock: Mac Allister scores the fastest goal in the history of the seagulls in the Premier by uprooting the ball from Luiz’s feet after a wrong throw from Martinez and piercing the goalkeeper. De Zerbi loses Lallana due to injury in the 5 ‘: the hosts do not take off and Villa draws in the 20’, with Ings who centrally transforms a penalty awarded for a foul by Dunk on McGinn. Brighton struggled to build and at half-time the scoreboard reads 1-1. At 54 ‘Villa passes, who in possession after hitting a sensational post with Buendia manages to get the ball in the area to Ings, who mocked Colwill and Sanchez for his personal brace. De Zerbi moved on to 3-4-3 and Brighton finally understood how to control the game on the outside. The Villa, however, is holed up in their own half and manages to protect the advantage.