Party time at end of greatest season: Villa 2-1 Brighton photos
With Europa League football already confirmed at the end of a historic season for Brighton, these photos from the final day of the campaign focus on other matters than the Albion slipping to a 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa.
Firstly, there was the party. From EU flags to Brighton giving out free “RDZ Blue and White Army” t-shirts (complete with spelling mistake) to every away supporter, this was a celebration of the Seagulls soaring to their highest league finish and Europe for the first time.
Then there were the goodbyes. Alexis Mac Allister cut an emotional figure after what is likely to be his final appearance in a Brighton shirt with Liverpool and Manchester City lurking.
Roberto De Zerbi said afterwards he expects Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo to depart this summer for bigger clubs with deeper pockets.
Beyond those two potential headline sales, Joel Veltman and Jan Paul van Hecke are out of contract and Levi Colwill’s loan from Chelsea expires.
It could be a very different looking Albion squad lining up for the opening game of the 2023-24 season; hopefully, one with more strength in depth to cope with the workload of Thursday nights in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Victory for Villa means they will join Brighton in continental competition, qualifying for the Europa Conference at the expense of Spurs.
For many Albion fans, this was a wonderful outcome and revenge for that afternoon at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last month when Brighton lost 2-1, had two perfectly good goals disallowed and were denied two clear cut penalties. Turns out some cheats (like Spurs) don’t prosper.
Douglas Luiz and Ollie Watkins had Villa 2-0 ahead inside of 26 minutes. Gradual tension descended on Villa Park over the remainder of the game, most notably when Deniz Undav pulled one back and Brighton then introduced Caicedo and Pervis Estupinan from the bench for the second half.
Villa though held on and seventh spot was theirs. The entire stadium could sing “We’re all going on a European Tour” come full time with both Brighton and their hosts having broken the monopoly of the big six. What a season.
If you have any photos you would like included in our Aston Villa 2-1 Brighton gallery, please e-mail them to wearebrighton@hotmail.co.uk or tweet them to us @wearebrighton
