Post Match report for the Aston Villa game - Saturday, 30th September 2023
PREMIER LEAGUE 23/24: Aston Villa V Brighton - 30/9/23 P7
* * * * * HUMILIATION ON THE ROAD IN ABJECT DEFEAT * * * * *
RESULT: 6-1 ~ Fati . (h-t 3-0)
VENUE: Villa Park, Birmingham - third away match of 7 fixtures to date . Sat 12:30pm.
BEFORE KICKOFF: this irregular Saturday lunchtime spot got sandwiched between rescheduled Sunday & Thursday games for alternate Prem & Europa League or Conference participation.
During midweek both Seagulls & Villans also crashed out of the EFL Cup third round to respective Prem opposition.
WEATHER: mild . GATE: 40,636 . KIT: blue & white . ATMOSPHERE: very flat for visitors
ROBERTO de ZERBI had one eye on this division and the other on UEL group games on the match-day merry-go-round.
His focus was aimed toward moving forwards on these fronts rather than just spinning in ever decreasing circles.
RdZ viewed his available squad list knowing involvement in four competitions had very quickly been reduced to three.
INJURED: 6 Milner 10 Enciso 13 Gross 14 Lallana 15 Moder
SQUAD: 38 McGill 40 Buonanotte 43 Samuels
STARTING SHAPE: 4-2-3-1
TEAM . . . . . . . . . 23 Steele
. 34 Veltman 4 Webster 5 Dunk 30 Estupinan
. 7 March 41 Hinshelwood 11 Gilmour 22 Mitoma
. . . . . 28 Ferguson . . . 18 Welbeck
SUBS: 2 Lamptey (45), 9 Pedro (45), 31 Fati (45), 24 Adingra (62), 20 Baleba (87)
BENCH: 1 Verbruggen (gk) 3 Julio 8 Dahoud 29 van Hecke
GOALS:
1-0 - 14 . following a VAR check for o/s hosts take the lead as visitors are opened up from strong offensive action.
2-0 - 21 . another VAR check confirms Steele is not unsighted by an offside player as travellers are cut to shreds again.
3-0 - 26 . hosts net a quick third goal via Estupinan and VAR is required to pass it once more while blue & white are bullied at every ball.
3-1 - 50 . FATI nets from a rebound when once again VAR gets employed to replay offside scenarios during build up.
4-1 - 65 . Villans striker completes a hat-trick which underlines Brighton defensive frailties against top class players.
5-1 - 85 . a fifth score and Albion are routed when giving Villans too much time & space and not defending properly.
6-1 - 97 . the sixth conceded and more poor defending has allowed the team to be steam-rollered as heads drop.
YELLOWS: Welbeck, Mitoma, Dunk, Fati
INCIDENTS: 7 Estupinan effort, 11 hosts try, 13 hosts miss, 18 hosts miss, 23 Steele saves, 29 March miss, 32 hosts effort, 37 hosts miss, 45+ hosts pressure, 45+ Steele takes,
60 Fati try, 63 hosts try, 76 Mitoma hit, 83 Adingra effort,
CHANGES: 45 Lamptey, Pedro & Fati for Estupinan, Ferguson & Welbeck
62 Adingra for March . 87 Baleba for Hinshelwood
FIRST HALF: yet another clean sheet soiled within minutes and advantage easily handed to opposition very early with the game to chase.
Moments later hosts doubled their lead.
Soon afterwards Brighton went three down.
It was a nightmare.
SECOND HALF: reducing the deficit from a triple change on turnaround helped Seagulls recover from shellshock.
But the game was well and truly up not long after the hour mark and damage limitation was required.
Late goals destroyed any credibility.
IN THE END: a self-inflicted defeat based on total inability to cope with aggressive locals from word go.
Game-plans to outscore strong home opposition founder when conceding and giving opponents a clear head start.
All that early season hype has come home to roost with a squad as fragile as cracked eggs.
NUMBERS: poss 39%-61%, on target 9-3, off target 10-8, corners 1-3,
fouls 19-20, yellows 4-4, subs 3-5, shape 4231-4231 . . . . . gd5 pt15 po4
FS
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