news-engine

Post Match report for the Aston Villa - ARCHIVE 26/27 game - Sunday, 23rd August 2026 PREMIER LEAGUE 26/27: Brighton V Aston Villa - 23/8/26 P1 * * * * * GOALS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE * * * * * RESULT: 4-0 ~ og de Cuyper Hinshelwood 2 . . (h-t 4-0) VENUE: the Amex, Falmer - first home match of 1 fixture to date . . Sun 2pm BEFORE KICKOFF: it was getting to the end of August and we had only just begun here in the Prem following a trip to northern Norway in midweek. Villa were a bogey side and they had recently competed in the UEFA Super Cup as last terms Euro League champs. WEATHER: English summer . ATMOSPHERE: two halves of folklore. FABIAN HURZELER had been multitasking thru the week with prep for Conference League play-off & Prem action. FH decided to stick with his preferred first eleven from pre-season and the Arctic excursion. SQUAD: 3 Julio 16 Cashin 22 Duberry 33 ORiley INJURED: 11 Minteh 24 Kadioglu . . REHAB: 7 Mitoma 9 Tzima 28 Ferguson OOL: 14 Watson 40 Buonanotte STARTING SHAPE: 4-2-3-1 TEAM: 1 Verbruggen 27 Wieffer 44 Vuskovic 5 Dunk 21 Boscagli 25 Gomez 26 Ayari 13 Gross 29 de Cuyper 8 Hinshelwood 10 Rutter SUBS: 19 Kostoulas (64) 20 Costinha (64) 15 Osman (78) 36 Yohanna (78) 35 Yalcouye (86) BENCH: 23 Steele 4 Struijk 12 David 30 Svoboda GOALS: 1-0 - 8 . a mistake at the back from visitors is punished when de Cuyper is well forward and the ball deflects. 2-0 - 18 . DE CUYPER nets following good work by Rutter going forwards. 3-0 - 30 . HINSHELWOOD grabs a goal following a header by Gomez after a cross from de Cuyper. 4-0 - 31 . HINSHELWOOD bags a brace when competitive in the right place at the right time. YELLOWS: Gross 9 Ayari 11 . . . RED: visitors 40 (VAR intervention) CHANGES: 64 - Kostoulas & Costinha for Hinshelwood & Ayari 78 - Osman & Yohanna for de Cuyper & Wieffer . 86 - Yalcouye for Gomez FIRST HALF: against run of play travellers concede a self-inflicted wound inside 10 minutes. Hosts run riot and score three times by just after half an hour. Visitors are reduced to ten men at five minutes to halftime. SECOND HALF: both sides plodded thru the closing forty-five minutes. Subs arrived at intervals from past the hour mark. IN THE END: opening day victory against depleted opponents merely a shadow of former selves. NUMBERS: poss 73%-27% on target 6-0, off target 15-6, corners 5-2, fouls 12-9, yellows 2-3, red 0-1, subs 5-5, shape 4231-4231 . . . . . gd4 pt3 po1 FS BROWSING: via Stats page tabs all History & Travel, Squad, Archive - players, plus stats.