Aston Villa and Unai Emery will have had a bad week. Beaten at home by Olympiakos on Thursday in the first leg of the Europa Conference League semi-finals (2-4), the Villans lost this Sunday on the Brighton pitch (0-1). A defeat which could have serious consequences in the race for the Champions League because it leaves the Birmingham players (4th) within reach of Tottenham, who are seven points behind but two matches in less, and who travel this Sunday after -noon in Liverpool (5:30 p.m., live commentary).
This setback in Brighton is uncontroversial, as the Seagulls dominated almost throughout the match. Replacing an injured Emiliano Martinez, Robin Olsen multiplied his exploits and even repelled a penalty from Joao Pedro (86th), obtained by the untenable Simon Adingra. But the Brazilian striker followed his attempt and scored the only goal of the match (87th).
Aston Villa, with a Moussa Diaby who started but was very discreet, was generally powerless, as evidenced by his 0.06 expected goals over the entire match.
