Villa 3 Brighton 2
Saturday 23rd January 2010, 5:11PM GMT.
Villa survived some tense moments to see off a spirited challenge from League One Brighton in the FA Cup.
It looked plain sailing for the claret and blue ship when Nathan Delfouneso put them ahead early on, but Tommy Elphick got the equaliser before Ashley Young and Fabian Delph restored the lead, with Nicky Forster’s goal a mere reply.
Young striker Delfouneso’s second goal of the season was relatively straightforward with five minutes gone, a nice side-footed finish from Marc Albrighton’s cross, and it looked as if Villa were starting as they meant to go on.
But Brighton hauled themselves back in it before the interval, defender Elphick forcing the ball home on 41 minutes after a corner from former Wolves player Elliott Bennett.
Whatever manager Martin O’Neill said to his players at half-time reaped immediate dividends, as winger Young restored the home side’s lead just three minutes after the break.
The wide man cut in from the left to head home a cross from Stewart Downing on the other flank.
Delph was then thwarted by a point-blank save from Brighton goalkeeper Michel Kuipers, but the midfelder would be the man that gave the opposition a mountain to climb in the 63rd minute.
The youngster was quick out of the blocks to meet James Milner’s through ball and took the ball onto his left foot with Kuipers approaching, slotting the ball under the goalkeeper.
But the home crowd endured a tense last few minutes thanks to another Brighton goal – and to add insult to injury it was from a former Birmingham striker.
The evergreen Forster, now 36, drove his finish low into the bottom corner in stoppage time, but it proved scant consolation for the League One club.
UK Sport
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