Marcus Rashford scored his first league goal for Aston Villa in a comfortable 3-0 win at Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday which moved the visitors ahead of the hosts in the Premier League table.
Villa moved up to seventh place on 48 points, one behind Chelsea who host Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday, while Brighton are one point behind in eighth.
With the title race and relegation battle all but decided, European qualification is still all to play for and Villa, playing their first league game since March 8, took a major step in their quest for more Champions League football.
“We knew this was an important game for us, it was must win,” Villa defender Ezri Konsa told Sky Sports.
“We came to win and that’s what we did. The Champions League is the main goal.”
Since their last league match, Villa have reached the Champions League quarter-finals and FA Cup semis, with Rashford, on loan from Manchester United, netting twice in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Preston North End.
Both sides had chances in the opening half, Villa threatening when Konsa’s header was spilled by Bart Verbruggen but the Brighton keeper recovered to get to the ball before Rashford.
Yasin Ayari hit a Brighton free kick against the post and Villa will feel they should have had a penalty when Jack Hinshelwood, on a yellow card, looked to have fouled Jacob Ramsey, but a VAR check decided otherwise.
Rashford, who had fallen out of favour at United, opened the scoring six minutes after the break. Morgan Rogers played a long pass and Rashford kept his cool, taking one touch to control before shooting past Verbruggen from outside the area.
“He’s got a smile on his face again. He looks like he’s enjoying football again,” Konsa added.
Brighton thought they had equalised but Simon Adingra’s goal was ruled out for handball by Kaoru Mitoma in the build-up.
“After the goal for them, the game changed,” Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler told Sky Sports. “We weren’t able to create any more chances.”
The hosts rarely threatened in a scrappier second half and Rogers again played provider, sending a low cross into the area for substitute Marco Asensio, on loan from Paris St Germain, to slot home 12 minutes from time.
Deep into added time, another substitute, Donyell Malen, scored his first goal for the Villa.
Asensio slipped a through ball into the area and Malen fired into the far corner as Brighton lost after a five-game unbeaten league run, having exited the FA Cup on penalties to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
–Reuters
