TARIQ LAMPTEY salvaged a point for the Seagulls with a stunning late strike to spoil Ollie Watkins’ 29th birthday bash!
But once again VAR was the big talking point and ref Craig Pawson seemed as confused as the fans!
Simon Adingra curled in Brighton’s opener after 12 minutesRex
ReutersOllie Watkins levelled from the penalty spot[/caption]
Morgan Rogers completed the turnaround for the home sideGetty
ReutersTariq Lamptey struck late on to earn a point for the visitors[/caption]
Villa controlled the majority of the match but Brighton finished strongly
The match official courted controversy when he ignored two Villa penalty claims – only for VAR to step in and side with him on one but not the other.
It all amounted to a muddle with the man in the middle as Watkins scored from the spot kick his team were awarded, to cancel out Simon Adingra’s early opener.
Morgan Rogers then fired Villa in front before Lamptey had the last word on a ight of controversy.
This affair was fast, furious and had a flurry of bookings and controversy.
It all started with a bang – when Joao Pedro clashed heads with Boubacar Kamara – and the game was held up for four minutes while his split eye was patched up.
The Seagulls striker returned, resembling Rab C. Nesbitt and the slapstick continued as Unai Emery hit the deck rushing to retrieve the ball at a throw-in!
Everywhere you looked bodies were crashing into each other and hitting the turf.
But it was Brighton who landed the first real blow after 12 minutes.
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Aston Villa came from behind to lead before being pegged backReuters
Rogers thought he had won the game for VillaGetty
Lewis Dunk’s long ball out of defence wasn’t dealt with by Ezri Konsa and Pau Torres who were outmuscled by Joao Pedro.
The ball fell to Simon Adingra who chopped inside onto his right foot and curled a beauty beyond Emi Martinez into the far corner from the edge of the box.
Villa’s night got worse when Pau Torres hobbled off after damaging his right ankle and was replaced by Tyrone Mings.
Martinez did well to claw Enciso’s dipping shot away for a corner which Jan Paul van Hecke headed just off target.
But the game erupted over two first-half penalty claims which backed up Unai Emery’s pre-match warning about how ‘politics,’ are affecting VAR decisions.
The Villa boss, still incensed by Jhon Duran’s three-match ban for stamping on Newcastle United defender Fabian Schar, let rip in his programme notes.
He wrote: “In our opinion, the referees are not using enough and correctly the VAR.
“The Video Assistant Referee came to help us avoid injustice or mistakes, and to protect whatever it takes for the on-field decisions to be delivered – right or wrong – by the referee.
“If we start to use VAR in a political way, we are forgetting that the video tool is here to protect the game and the fairness of the competition.”
In other words he feels the man in the middle should be helped by MORE VAR decisions – rather than less – and his point was underlined here.
Villa were the subject of two penalty claims which ref Craig Pawson decided NOT to award.
In the first instance it looked as if Van Hecke clipped Morgan Rogers boot – then played the ball – as the Villa man hit the deck in the box.
Brighton remain winless in seven despite Lamptey’s strikePA
However VAR decided it wasn’t a clear and obvious error by Pawson and let the ref’s original decision stand, to Villa’s fury.
Two minutes later we had a similar incident with a totally different outcome.
Youri Tielemans corner was dropped by Bart Verbruggen and Joao Pedro appeared to clip Rogers who went down in the box.
However this time VAR intervened and sent Pawson to his pitchside monitor to have a second look.
It took at least three minutes for Pawson to decide Rogers had indeed been fouled – and that Verbruggen hadn’t been fouled while dropping the ball – and so he pointed to the spot.
The point is that when margins are so tight, surely the man in the middle of the action should decide – rather than those at Stockley Park?
Ollie Watkins kept his cool and dished up a birthday treat as he sent Verbruggen the wrong way from the spot to celebrate his 29th birthday with a goal.
We were treated to 12 minutes of first-half stoppage time before Villa hit the front two minutes into the second half.
Watkins lofted the ball over the Brighton defence after the Seagulls only half-cleared a corner and Rogers took the ball down on his chest before crashing it beyond Verbruggen.
However Brighton refused to accept their fate and hit back with a stunning equaliser nine minutes from the end.
Pedro worked a one-two with Mitoma and laid it off for Tariq Lamptey who slammed a low shot beyond Martinez from just inside the box to earn the Seagulls a hard-earned point.
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