Aston Villa continued their impressive winning streak by securing a convincing 3-0 victory over Brighton on Wednesday night. The win marked their sixth consecutive triumph across all competitions. Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford opened the scoring with his debut Premier League goal for Villa, followed by goals from Marco Asensio and Donyell Malen.
Despite the dominating performance, the match was overshadowed by controversies involving VAR. Three separate incidents saw the technology come into play throughout the game. Firstly, Villa’s penalty claim in the first half was denied by the referee, leading to a VAR check that confirmed the decision due to lack of sufficient contact.
Brighton suffered a setback when what appeared to be an equalizing goal was disallowed after a handball in the build-up was detected by VAR. Additionally, a potential foul in the build-up to Asensio’s goal was reviewed by VAR, but the on-field decision of awarding the goal stood as the contact was deemed mutual and not a foul.
Despite the VAR drama, Villa’s victory sees them sitting in seventh place in the Premier League table, just two points behind fifth-placed Newcastle and three points behind fourth-placed Manchester City, with Newcastle having a game in hand. Villa’s next challenge comes in the form of a clash against high-flying Nottingham Forest at Villa Park on Saturday evening at 5:30 PM. The team will look to maintain their winning momentum and climb further up the league standings.
