A Jack Hinshelwood own goal gave Aston Villa a narrow 1-0 win over Brighton as James Milner equalled the all-time record for Premier League appearances at Villa Park.
Villa pulled six points clear of fifth-placed Chelsea after a flick on from Tyrone Mings was diverted into the Seagulls’ net by the midfielder, sparking bedlam in the Holt End.
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The hosts badly needed both a convincing display and three points, as did Brighton who are left languishing in 14th with just a single win in 13 league matches.
As it happened
On paper, facing a Brighton team with only one win in 12 league games seemed ideal, but the opening half offered little excitement.
Although the home side worked their way into promising areas, clear-cut chances were scarce before Morgan Rogers came closest firing from a narrow angle, but Bart Verbruggen dealt with it comfortably.
There was a notable milestone before halftime as former Villa player James Milner entered the action early, replacing the booked Carlos Baleba inside 20 minutes, marking his 653rd Premier League appearance and drawing level with Gareth Barry’s all-time record.
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After the restart, the pattern remained largely unchanged, though Brighton looked more threatening.
Approaching the hour mark, they nearly broke the deadlock when Emiliano Martínez produced a superb fingertip save to divert Ferdi Kadioglu’s powerful strike onto the crossbar.
Both managers responded with substitutions to inject energy, but defenses on either side stood firm.
As the clock ticked down, Villa controlled possession yet seemed destined to settle for a draw. Then, in the final five minutes, fortune smiled on them.
Tyrone Mings flicked the ball on, and it deflected heavily off Hinshelwood before wrong-footing Verbruggen and crossing the line.
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The Holte End erupted, unconcerned about how the breakthrough arrived. Brighton pushed forward desperately in search of an equaliser, but it never came, allowing the hosts to close out the contest.
Aston Villa have now won eight of their ten Premier League games against Brighton, drawing and losing once.
Brighton have lost six of their seven Premier League away games against Aston Villa, conceding at least twice in each of the six games they failed to win.
The result leaves Unai Emery’s side six points behind league leaders Arsenal ahead of the Gunners’ meeting with Brentford on Thursday.
More crucially, Villa now sit six points clear of Chelsea in fifth place. Brighton, meanwhile, are not yet staring at relegation trouble, but their poor run continues, leaving them just seven points above the bottom three.
