BRIGHTON COLLAPSE: ASTON VILLA EXPLOIT ERRORS FOR THRILLING 4-3 ROAD WIN
Unai Emery's tactical changes led Aston Villa to a dramatic 4-3 win over Brighton. Emery praises Watkins' confidence and Bizot's late heroics.
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Aston Villa's coach, Unai Emery, is hoping that Ollie Watkins' two goals in the first half of their exciting 4-3 comeback win against Brighton will help him get back to his best scoring form.
Villa is now third in the Premier League after coming back from being two goals down at Brighton's stadium. This win marks their eighth in the last nine league matches.
Watkins hadn't scored in 11 games before this match, but he managed to score twice, cancelling out goals from Jan Paul van Hecke and an own goal by Pau Torres. This brought his season total to three goals.
Amadou Onana and Donyell Malen, who came in as substitutes, also scored for Villa, completing the comeback. Although Van Hecke scored again for Brighton, it wasn't enough to stop Villa from winning.
Watkins, who plays for England, was brought back into the team as one of five changes from their 1-0 win over Wolves. He has now scored nine goals in 10 games against Brighton.
Emery said that Watkins always gives him confidence because of his hard work and focus during matches. He added that even when Watkins isn't scoring, he stays confident, and the goals will eventually come. Emery hopes Watkins can continue to balance his hard work with scoring goals.
Before the game, Villa had to make a late change when goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez got injured during the warm-up.
Marco Bizot, the backup goalkeeper, was at fault for Brighton's first goal but made up for it with a crucial save in added time, stopping a header from Danny Welbeck.
Emery explained that Martinez felt a block in his back and couldn't warm up properly. He praised Bizot, calling him a fantastic professional who knew his role and was ready to play when needed. Emery acknowledged Bizot's mistake on the first goal but pointed out that it's hard for goalkeepers to defend corners. He also highlighted Bizot's fantastic save at the end of the game and said that he always works hard and is responsible.
Brighton has dropped to seventh place after their 10-game unbeaten run at home, which dated back to a 3-0 loss to Villa in early April, came to an end.
Brighton's coach, Fabian Hurzeler, admitted his disappointment at losing a 2-0 lead, saying that these things can happen, especially in the Premier League against good teams.
He said that it shouldn't have happened and that they would analyse the game to try and improve next time. Hurzeler felt that his team defended quite well in the first half but that the goals they conceded seemed to come out of nowhere and were more about individual errors.
He also pointed out that they conceded two goals from set pieces, which made the difference in the end. Hurzeler acknowledged the importance of set pieces and said that they would analyse their defence and keep working on it.
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
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Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.
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