Villa find a way.. and that's all that matters.
- James
- Feb 11
- 8 min read
Updated: Feb 12
Real-Time Match Report
🟩 11 Feb 2026 Villa 1-0 Brighton, Villa Park
Scorer(s): Jack Hinshelwood o.g. | 86' |
Assist(s): None
Full Match Report: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/5818
Line Up
Tyrone Mings makes his 200th appearance in Claret & Blue as Alysson comes in for his first taste of a Villa squad.
Tyrone Mings Blog Post: Double Centurion #7 Incoming
Injuries
DM Boubacar Kamara 🇫🇷
Expected return: 2026-27 Season
CM John McGinn 🏴
Expected return: 11 Apr 2026
RB Andrés García 🇪🇸
Expected return: 21 Feb 2026
CM Youri Tielemans 🇧🇪
Expected return: 18 Apr 2026
RB Matty Cash 🇵🇱
Expected return: 21 Feb 2026
You do get the impression that the football Gods are not with Villa. Firstly, we lose our entire midfield to injury, now we lose our entire right-back roster to the treatment room.
Matty Cash is ruled out, alongside understudy Andrés García, forcing Unai Emery to play one of our few fit midfielders in a totally unaccustomed position, with defensive midfielder Lamare Bogarde having to fill in at right-back.
What price on losing someone to a first-half injury?
Scorer(s)
Scorer(s): Jack Hinshelwood o.g. | 86' |
Assist(s): None
Starting XI
GK Emiliano Martínez 🇦🇷 🟨
DM Lamare Bogarde 🇳🇱
CB Tyrone Mings 🏴
CB Ezri Konsa 🏴
LB Ian Maatsen 🇳🇱
DM Amadou Onana 🇧🇪 🔁
AM Emiliano Buendía 🇦🇷 🔁
M Douglas Luiz 🇧🇷 🔁
AM Morgan Rogers 🏴
LW Jadon Sancho 🏴 🔁
CF Ollie Watkins 🏴 🔁
Substitutes
🔁 RW Leon Bailey 🇯🇲 for LW Jadon Sancho 🏴 60’
🔁 CM Ross Barkley 🏴 for AM Emiliano Buendía 🇦🇷 60’
🔁 RW Alysson 🇧🇷 for CF Ollie Watkins 🏴 74’
🔁 CF Tammy Abraham 🏴 for DM Amadou Onana 🇧🇪 75’
🔁 CB Victor Lindelöf 🇸🇪 for M Douglas Luiz 🇧🇷 84’
Unused Substitutes
GK Marco Bizot 🇳🇱
GK James Wright 🏴
CB Pau Torres 🇪🇸
LB Lucas Digne 🇫🇷
First Half Timeline
[🟨] 2’ Booking, (Brighton & Hove Albion), Carlos Baleba, Bad Foul
💥 22’ Taken off before he’s sent off, Carlos Baleba is substituted
[🟨] 23’ Booking, (Brighton & Hove Albion), Joël Veltman, Bad Foul
💥 40’ Jan Paul van Hecke goes in late on Emiliano Martínez, sparking a melee
[🟨] 41’ Booking, (Brighton & Hove Albion), Jan Paul van Hecke, Bad Foul
🟨 41’ Booking, Emiliano Martínez, Retaliation
🕒 45’+4 HT Aston Villa 0-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
Half-Time Comment
A booking in the first few minutes, Baleba was heading for an early bath before being subbed off with barely 20 minutes on the clock. Ten minutes later, Villa had already clocked up 9 attempts to Brighton’s 1. Veltman is booked, Milner avoids a nailed-on caution before van Hecke goes in late on Emi Martínez, sparking a melee and another Brighton booking. Shades of Brentford here, but at least they haven’t fluked a goal before half-time. And no, we didn’t lose anyone to a first-half injury. A bit more speed in the build up and these are there for the taking. Still all to play for.
Second Half Timeline
🟨 50’ Booking, Morgan Rogers, Bad Foul
🪵 54’ Emiliano Martínez saves onto the crossbar
🔁 60’ Sub off, Jadan Sancho, Sub on, Leon Bailey
🔁 60’ Sub off, Emiliano Buendía, Sub on, Ross Barkley
🔁 74’ Sub off, Ollie Watkins, Sub on, Alysson 🟢
🔁 75’ Sub off, Amadou Onana, Sub on, Tammy Abraham
🔁 84’ Sub off, Douglas Luiz, Sub on, Victor Lindelöf
⚽ 86’ Goal! 1-0, Jack Hinshelwood o.g.
🕒 90’+7 FT Aston Villa 1-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
Moving Pictures
Full-Time Comment
Brighton had only their second attack in the final seconds of the first half, but opened the second with a chance before Rogers needlessly went into the book with Villa looking ragged. In truth, despite having plenty of play, Villa don’t look like scoring, but Brighton do as a fortuitous ball finds its way back to them, and Martínez has to tip the shot onto the bar. Unarguably, Brighton competed the second half in ascendancy but Villa should have had one of the simplest penalty decisions imagingable awarded for them. Still, Villa, minutes later, found a way and came away with the three points the night demanded, despite it being comfortably the poorest performance of their recent home blips.
League Table
Officials Game Rating
Referee: Peter Bankes | 🏴 | Liverpool, 2016-
Discipline Rating: 7/10 No nonsense from the get-go, unavoidably had to caution Emi Martínez for his rough and tumble response to that late challenge, but in what is all too rare for an official these days he clamped down swiftly and firmly if a little generous to the veteran Milner & in not showing Baleba a second yellow.
Game Rating: 3/10 Yet the bewildering failure to award a penalty for a full on chest push on Tammy Abraham had to be seen to be believed. As always in these situtations in 2026 it is VAR, not the onfield referee who is most culpable.
VAR: Tony Harrington | 🏴 | Cleveland, 2022-
Game Rating: 0/10 Zero. Zero justification for not awarding Villa a penalty shortly before they took the lead.
The Boss
Unai Emery | 🇪🇸 | Hondarribia, 2022-
2022- 🕒 176 | 🟩 | 99 🟨 | 31 🟥 46 | 1.86
Unai Emery's 🇪🇸 on the cusp of his 100th win for Villa
Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest Win percentage achieved across all competitions: 56.25%
Closest Rival: 1886-26 George Ramsay 🏴 Management Committee 49.55%
1982-84 Tony Barton 🏴 Highest Home Win percentage achieved across all competitions: 70.59%
Closest Rival: Unai Emery 🇪🇸 67.05%
Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest Away Win percentage achieved across all competitions: 45.98%
Closest Rival: 2006-10 Martin O'Neill 🇬🇧 40.63%
Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest Premier League Win percentage achieved 54.33%
Closes Rival: 1998-02 John Gregory 🏴 41.22%
Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest League Win percentage achieved 54.33%
Closest Rival: 1886-26 George Ramsay 🏴 Management Committee 48.14%
Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest Top Flight League Win percentage achieved 54.33%
Closest Rival: 1886-26 George Ramsay 🏴 Management Committee 48.14%
1886-26 George Ramsay 🏴 Management Committee Highest FA Cup Win percentage achieved, leading the club 5 or more times in the competition, 62.50%
Closest Rival: Unai Emery 🇪🇸 60.00%
Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest European Win percentage achieved, leading the club 5 or more times in European competition 66.77%
Closest Rival: 1974-82 Ron Saunders | 🏴 | 50.00%
Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest European Cup / Champions League Win percentage achieved, leading the club 5 or more times in the competition, 66.67%
Closest Rival: 1982-84 Tony Barton 🏴 54.55%
Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Lowest Loss percentage suffered across all competitions 26.01%
Closest Rival: 2006-10 Martin O'Neill 🇬🇧 26.32%
1958-64 Joe Mercer 🏴 Highest Post War Average Goals per Game Scored across all competitions 1.73
Closest Rival: Unai Emery 🇪🇸 1.70
On This Day
Tyrone Mings 🏴 makes his 200th appearance for Villa.
Tyrone Mings 🏴 makes his 60th appearance under Unai Emery 🇪🇸
Tyrone Mings 🏴 makes his 165th Premier League appearance for Villa.
Tyrone Mings 🏴 makes his 160th Premier League start for Villa.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/tyrone-mings
Alysson 🇧🇷 makes his first squad appearance for Villa since signing from Grêmio 🇧🇷 in January. Alysson 🇧🇷 becomes the 1,019th player to play League or Cup football for the Villa first team.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/alysson
Lamare Bogarde 🇳🇱 makes his 25th start for Villa in 47 appearances.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/lamare-bogarde
Emiliano Buendía 🇦🇷 makes his 75th start for Villa.
Emiliano Buendía 🇦🇷 makes his 80th appearance under Unai Emery 🇪🇸
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/emiliano-buend%C3%ADa
Jadon Sancho 🏴 makes his 15th Premier League appearance for Villa.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/jadon-sancho
Emiliano Martínez 🇦🇷 wins his 85th game in 149 appearances under Unai Emery 🇪🇸.
Emiliano Martínez 🇦🇷 keeps his 78th clean sheet. Of goalkeepers to reach that number, only Jimmy Rimmer 🏴 1977-82 and Mark Bosnich 🇦🇺 1992-99 have a better clean sheet/game ratio.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/emiliano-mart%C3%ADnez
Tammy Abraham 🏴 wins his 20th game for Villa in 43 appearances.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/tammy-abraham
Leon Bailey 🇯🇲 wins his 70th game for Villa in 148 appearances.
Leon Bailey 🇯🇲 makes his 53rd substitute appearance for Villa to move 9th in Villa’s all-time substitute appearance record.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/leon-bailey
Ross Barkley 🏴 makes his 40th substitute appearance for Villa.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/ross-barkley
Marco Bizot 🇳🇱 makes his 25th unused substitute appearance for Villa.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/marco-bizot
Pau Torres 🇪🇸 makes his 25th unused substitute appearance for Villa.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/pau-torres
James Wright 🏴 makes his 16th unused substitute appearance without playing - the fourth highest in Villa’s history, but significantly behind record holder Andy Marshall 🏴 2011-13 with 33.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/james-wright
Victor Lindelöf 🇸🇪 secures his 15th win for Villa in 19 appearances.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/victor-lindel%C3%B6f
Scenes
What they said
"We all know we didn't deserve to lose. We deserved so much more. In games like this, the team who scores first wins. Villa did it out of nowhere with a set-piece. I feel sorry for the supporters."
Fabian Hurzeler, He's not wrong on the second-half but there's ways of saying it, and ways of not.
“Everything we do is for the fans.
“We’re only here for a short amount of time, so we respect the fans’ expectations, and their expectations are very high playing for this football club, and so they should be.
“If we can send them home happy more often than not, we’re doing our jobs.
“I said before the game that Brighton is a team that deserves more points than they have, they’re a fantastic football team.
“They caused Manchester City a lot of problems, they cause every team problems, and from the clips we watched we knew it would be a difficult game.
“Here, we haven’t been the best in recent weeks, so it was important to get back to making this a tough place to come. Usually that starts with being hard to beat and seeing what happens at the other end.
“It didn’t look like much was going to happen at the other end because they’re a good defensive team, and any team you go and play against in this league is so difficult.
“From when I arrived, we’ve been on such an amazing journey.
“To be here now, it feels like we deserve to be here – it’s not the first season we’ve been challenging for the top four.
“Incremental progress and incremental improvement is what we’re after. Everyone knows the financial benefits of getting in the Champions League and the rewards that has for the club.”
Tyrone Mings
“Very important here with our supporters.
“We recovered a little bit the energy we needed, but there’s still work to do to recover more – more for us, for the supporters.
“And, of course, we are with 50 points, and today, how we achieved those three points, really is fantastic.
“Tough match, difficult match. The last two matches at home in Premier League, we lost.
“Today was very important to try to compete, to try to recover our mood individually and collectively, energy, winning of course is helping us.
“And, of course, keep going. And today, one step forward during the season, really, we needed it.
“It was equal, the match, but I think we got more in their box, and we were creating some corners as well offensively.
“We started well, we had two chances with Morgan. More or less, the expectation I had before the match was in the plan.
“And then, we planned 90 minutes because how we could manage the match, how they were as well managing the match, it was very, very important to be resilient in 90 minutes, and as well to try to be passionate when we were not dominating.
“More or less, we dominated sometimes, they dominated sometimes as well, but how are were working as well set-pieces and how we scored through Tyrone Mings is very important – another way we are adding.
“And then, 50 points. Of course, happy today, and try to recover our energy, try to recover our good form, try to recover confidence. Today was really very important, those three points, for it.”
Unai Emery
The Last Word
"Games are so tight, if it was 1-0 to them, everyone would say we were rubbish, but fortunately we got the right result tonight."
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