Унаи Эмеригийн удирдлага доорх Астон Вилла талбайн эздийн эсрэг сөрөг тоглолт үзүүлж, тоглолтын эхний хагаст л бүх гоолыг алдан, тоглогчоо талбайгаас хөөлгөсөн тун тааруухан эхлэлийг тавилаа.
Тоглолтын эхний найман минутад Астон Виллагийн хамгаалагч Пау Торресын алдаа болон Виктор Линделофын хувийн тоглолтын улмаас эсрэг баг авто гоол бүртгүүлснээр Брайтон тоглолтыг тэргүүлж эхэлсэн юм. Үүний дараа Максим Де Кюпер 18 дахь минутад тооны харьцааг 2:0 болгосон бол тоглолтын үлдсэн хэсэгт Жэк Хиншелвуд хоёр гоол оруулж, зочин багийн хамгаалалтыг бүрэн задалжээ. Астон Вилла агаарын бөмбөгөнд өрсөлдөх чадвараараа сүүлийн найман улирлын хамгийн муу үзүүлэлтийг үзүүлж, нийт бөмбөгний 16.7 хувийг л агаарт тогтоосон байна.
Тоглолтын 40 дэх минутад Астон Виллагийн шинэ тоглогч Жоао Гомес өрсөлдөгч тоглогчийн цээж рүү өшиглөсөн шалтгаанаар улаан хуудас авч талбайг чөлөөлсөн нь багийн нөхцөл байдлыг улам хүндрүүлэв. Ингэснээр Гомес 2012 оны хоёрдугаар сараас хойш Премьер лигт анхны тоглолтдоо оролцохдоо эхний хагаст улаан хуудас авсан анхны тоглогч боллоо.
Тоглолтын өмнө Астон Виллагийн ахлах дасгалжуулагч Унаи Эмери довтлогч Олли Уоткинсийн ирээдүйн талаарх асуултад тодорхой хариулт өгөөгүй нь багийн дотоод уур амьсгал тогтворгүй байгааг илтгэв. Брайтон өөрийн талбайдаа хийсэн тоглолтод 2.96 xG буюу гоол оруулах өндөр магадлал бүхий довтолгоог гүйцэтгэсэн нь тус багийн Премьер лиг дэх түүхэн дэх шилдэг эхний хагас байлаа.
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There are sluggish opening-day performances, and then there is Aston Villa’s 4-0 defeat to Brighton. It will go down as one of the great Premier League implosions after an almost comically disastrous first half from Unai Emery’s side.
An own goal, a red card, and two goals conceded in the space of a minute: Villa smashed the self-destruct button with reckless abandon in the first period at the Amex Stadium.
Brighton deserve immense credit for a slick, high-energy performance, but this was largely a mess of the away side’s own making. Here, The Athletic breaks down the main incidents from Villa’s shocking collapse.
The pre-match mood music was ominous, with head coach Emery giving a bizarre interview to Sky Sports, in which he slowly responded “silence” when asked about the future of centre-forward Ollie Watkins.
Watkins, who has been linked with a move away, was one of six players who started the Europa League final but were absent here. Much of the spine of that side, including Youri Tielemans and Morgan Rogers, have since secured their exits.
It took just eight minutes for Villa’s new-look side to silence their own travelling supporters, but it was triggered by some of their more familiar faces.
After winning a throw-in just inside their own third, it was a strange decision for left-back Ian Maatsen to hurl the ball back down his own byline to centre-back Pau Torres.
Even with this awkward throw, there was little mitigation for Torres’ decision to limply play across his own box, a sloppy pass that Brighton’s Maxim De Cuyper seized upon with glee.
There ended the glaring mistakes, with the move instead veering into the realm of slapstick. De Cuyper first took a nice touch to evade goalkeeper Marcos Bizot, before shooting from an acute angle. His effort crashed off the post, only to ricochet off Villa centre-back Victor Lindelof, who was lunging desperately to keep the initial shot out.
The calamitous tone was set. Ten minutes later, De Cuyper doubled Brighton’s lead, and again Torres was found at the scene of the crime.
In his defence, at least this was a well-worked goal by Brighton. Dunk floated a ball over the top to Georginio Rutter, who timed his run perfectly beyond Villa’s customary high line. Torres was beaten far too easily though, committing early to a sliding challenge that Rutter skipped past before cutting the ball back neatly for De Cuyper to tap home.
Then came a rapid-fire sequence that called to mind Brazil’s infamous 7-1 capitulation to Germany in the 2014 World Cup semi-finals, as Villa conceded twice within a minute.
The first again contained elements of neat Brighton interplay, with new signing Luka Vuskovic spreading a pinpoint diagonal out to De Cuyper on the left wing, enabling him the space to whip a delivery towards the back post.
Brighton midfielder Diego Gomez easily bested Maatsen to head across for Jack Hinshelwood to nod home. The move was indicative of how the rest of the game would go: Villa won just 16.7 per cent of their aerial duels, their lowest figure over the past eight seasons.
Moments later, Villa gifted Hinshelwood a second.
After playing backwards from kick-off in a way that suggested not a single player in a shellshocked side wanted the ball, Lindelof then tried to play out from the back and passed into new signing Joao Gomes on the edge of the penalty area.
Gomes, who had already looked lethargic, was caught cold as Yasin Ayari tackled him while he dallied on the ball. The tackle fell straight to Hinshelwood, leaving him with a simple task to double his tally, putting the game firmly beyond Villa.
Any sympathy for Gomes’s bruising afternoon vanished in the 40th minute after a moment of madness, with his daft red card capping one of the worst Premier League debuts in recent memory.
After tangling with Rutter on halfway, Gomes fell to the floor and, while rolling, decided to extend his leg upwards into the Brighton player’s chest. It was a simple decision for the VAR, making Gomes the first player to receive a first-half red card on his Premier League debut for a club since Queens Park Rangers’ Samba Diakite against Fulham in February 2012.
In the second half, Villa were fortunate Brighton were in a forgiving mood. Conserving their energy, Fabian Hurzeler’s side rarely pressed for more, but hit the post through Costinha and were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty after John McGinn barrelled into Ibrahim Osman.
The damage had already been done in that shambolic opening 45 minutes. Brighton’s expected goals (xG) figure was 2.96 — their highest-ever first-half total in the Premier League.
Villa could not live with the home side’s high-pressing and fluid combination play, but were ultimately architects of their own downfall.
It was a rude awakening to the challenges Emery’s side face this season. The only consolation is they have plenty of time to put it right.
All grabs from Sky Sports
