Aston Villa suffer NIGHTMARE start to the Premier League season as Unai Emery’s side concede FOUR – and new signing is sent off – in opening half at Brighton
Aston Villa suffered the worst possible start to their Premier League campaign, conceding four goals and being reduced to ten men in the first half of their clash with Brighton at the Amex.
The Seagulls ran riot against Unai Emery’s new-look Villans, netting four times in the opening 31 minutes to leave the Spaniard apoplectic on the touchline.
Villa’s horror show started eight minutes in, after Maxim De Cuyper’s effort smashed against the post before bouncing off centre-back Victor Lindelof and hitting the back of the net.
Ten minutes later, De Cuyper found the back of the net himself before Jack Hinshelwood netted a brace in less than two minutes on the half hour mark.
Emery was clearly enraged at his side’s embarrassing start to the match, and could be seen going crazy once the fourth goal went in.
Aston Villa suffered a nightmare start to their opening Premier League game of the season against Brighton
The Seagulls shipped four goals past the hapless Villans inside just 31 minutes
Summer signing Joao Gomes was also sent off on his Premier League debut for Villa
‘Unai Emery is steaming,’ former Aston Villa star Lee Hendrie stated on Sky Sports. ‘He hasn’t had many days like this as Aston Villa boss. The amount of giveaways from Villa is extraordinary.’
But matters only got worse when debutant Joao Gomes lost his temper and kicked out at Georginio Rutter. Following a brief VAR check, the midfielder was shown a red card.
Brighton’s first-half demolition of Villa was the fastest a team have raced into a 4-0 lead in their opening game of a season since Manchester United against Fulham in the 2006-07 season.
Alarm bells have been ringing at Villa Park during the summer due to the number of big names leaving the club.
Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Lucas Digne, and Ezri Konsa all started their Europa League triumph back in May but have moved on to pastures new.
Emery has brought in a host of new and exciting stars, such as Gomes, Johan Manzambi, Matteo Ruggeri and Zion Suzuki, which has brought some renewed optimism to the club ahead of the campaign.
However, that optimism dissipated rapidly after Villa’s dismal opening 45 minutes at the Amex.
