Soccer Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Brighton & Hove Albion - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - December 30, 2024 Brighton & Hove Albion's Tariq Lamptey looks dejected after the match REUTERS/Isabel Infantes
BIRMINGHAM (Reuters) -Brighton & Hove Albion's Tariq Lamptey drove home a late equaliser to earn his side a point in a lively 2-2 draw at Aston Villa in the Premier League on Monday.
Villa had come from behind to lead with an Ollie Watkins penalty and a Morgan Rogers effort just after the interval but Brighton deservedly left with a share of the spoils.
Lamptey was played in by Joao Pedro's clever flick and volleyed home first-time in the 81st minute.
Villa remained in ninth place with 29 points from 19 games with Brighton's second draw of the festive period leaving them two points behind in 10th spot.
Both sides will enter the new year with aspirations of qualifying for Europe and there was plenty of evidence to suggest both could realise that ambition in 2025 although Brighton are now on a seven-match winless streak.
A game of 33 goal attempts made for great viewing and a point apiece was about right in the end, even if both managers will feel they could have bagged all three points.
"We reacted and came back with 2-1. I have to accept it but I am a little bit frustrated with it. The table is very tight but we are in the race for the second part of the season," Villa manager Unai Emery said.
"We are ninth in the table and we have to try to start again against Leicester (City)."
Brighton went ahead in the 12th minute when Lewis Dunk launched a pass forward and Joao Pedro did well to knock the ball into the path of Simon Adingra who curled home a beauty.
Villa then had two penalty appeals in quick succession analysed by VAR. The first was when Rogers weaved his way into the area and fell under a challenge by Jan Paul van Hecke with the defender just getting enough of the ball to escape trouble.
Moments later Villa were again appealing for a penalty again as Rogers again went down in the area, this time after a stretching tackle by Joao Pedro. This time referee Craig Pawson, after a lengthy stare at the pitch-side monitor, awarded a penalty and Watkins thumped in the equaliser.
Two minutes after the restart, Villa went ahead as Watkins, back in the starting line-up after being dropped to the bench for the last three games, dinked a superb pass for Rogers to dispatch a superb shot past Brighton keeper Bart Verbruggen.
Villa appeared to be edging towards a victory that would have put them seventh but Lamptey had other ideas.
Even then there was still time for Villa to win and Watkins had a glorious chance from a corner but fired over the bar.
"We were the better team. We dominated 20-25 minutes of the game and then we conceded a goal. It doesn't make sense for me. We struggled a little bit but I think we deserved to win," Brighton boss Fabian Huerzeler said.
(Reporting by Martyn HermanEditing by Chrisitan Radnedge)
