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Aston Villa Wins 4-3 at Brighton in Dramatic Comeback

Published 9 December 2025

Aston Villa secured a dramatic 4-3 comeback victory over Brighton and Hove Albion on Wednesday night at the Amex Stadium, with striker Ollie Watkins ending an 11-game goal drought by scoring twice to propel his team into third place in the Premier League standings.

Brighton took an early lead in the ninth minute through Jan Paul van Hecke's close-range finish from a controversial corner, followed by an own goal from Pau Torres that doubled their advantage before halftime. Watkins, who had managed just one league goal in his previous 13 appearances this season, responded with two strikes in the final 15 minutes of the first half. His first came from finishing Ian Maatsen's delivery, while the second saw him race onto a pass from Morgan Rogers and drill past goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen. Amadou Onana added a third goal on the hour mark, and substitute Donyell Malen extended the lead to 4-2 with 12 minutes remaining. Van Hecke pulled one back late on, but Villa held firm to claim their eighth win in nine top-flight matches and inflict Brighton's first home defeat of the season.

The result marked only the third time in Premier League history that Villa had overturned a two-goal...

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