On a night when James Milner made history, equalling his former teammate Gareth Barry’s Premier League appearance record, his former club Aston Villa created more unwanted headlines for Fabian Hürzeler.
A Tyrone Mings header, deflected in off Jack Hinshelwood with four minutes of the 90 to play, was sufficient to defeat Brighton and extend their miserable run.
It said everything about a poor Villa display that Unai Emery was unmoved when the goal went in, though he could not conceal his delight at victory and hitting the 50-point mark with 12 games to go.
Brighton had looked more likely to score, Ferdi Kadioglu cracking an effort against the crossbar and Milner testing Emi Martínez with a curled shot, but it is now one win in 13 league matches for them.
Hürzeler’s post-match missive was clear. “We have to put our chin up again and search for the next opportunity,” he said. “We have to take responsibility for the results, especially me. We know the reality of where we are at the moment and in these kinds of situations you have to stick together and work harder.”
Both teams came into this game in need of a lift, though Brighton’s need was perhaps more pressing. Defeat at home by Crystal Palace last time out only augmented the argument against Hürzeler, when some Brighton supporters sang against their head coach. Thomas Frank’s departure from Tottenham further served to remind the fragility of the modern-day manager. For so long, Brighton have appeared almost foolproof, but are Hürzeler’s days numbered?
He was happy to make big decisions. Carlos Baleba, booked within a couple of minutes for a lazy challenge on Morgan Rogers, was hooked after 22 minutes, Milner entering in his place to warm applause from all sides of the stadium for his 653rd top‑flight appearance.
“Although we didn’t win, it is still a special night,” Hürzeler said of Milner reaching another milestone. “He is a role model for the young players, a top professional. He is unbelievably disciplined. It is a pleasure to work with him and we are grateful to have him in our squad, not only as a player but as a character.”
Hürzeler felt keeping Baleba on was not a gamble worth taking, at least not in his side’s current predicament. Baleba trudged into the away dugout, dragging his blue-and-white striped shirt over his face as he took his seat.
“In the end it is a bad decision from the referee [Peter Bankes] to give him the yellow card … wrong decision,” said Brighton’s head coach. “We had to avoid a potential second yellow card and protect a young player. I’ve seen these fouls so many times in the Premier League and 99% [of the time] they don’t give a yellow card. I really don’t get it.”
The first real effort on goal came on the verge of first-half stoppage time, Emi Buendia’s shot deflecting off Joel Veltman and narrowly wide of a post. Half of the Holte End thought the ball rippled Bart Verbruggen’s net but it had, in fact, cannoned against the advertising hoardings.
Villa struggled to penetrate Brighton, but Emery was delighted with a result that moved them five points clear of fourth-placed Manchester United and six of fifth-placed Chelsea. “We needed to win,” he said. “How? We just needed to recover confidence through the result.”
Kadioglu produced a rare moment of quality when striking the woodwork, though the Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez more than played his part. Danny Welbeck laid the ball off to Kadioglu 20 yards from goal and the versatile Turkey full-back sent a blistering, swerving strike at goal. Martinez’s fingertips pushed it on to the bar.
A few minutes before scoring, Mings headed away an awkward cross by the Brighton substitute Harry Howell. Just when it seemed the game would peter into a drab draw, Mings arrived at the front post for Bailey’s corner to find a winner via Hinshelwood.
“Games are so tight, if it was 1-0 to them, everyone would say we were rubbish,” Mings said. “But fortunately we got the right result.”
