Aston Villa U21 beat Brighton & Hove Albion U21 2-1 in Premier League 2, thanks to two goals inside five first-half minutes. Brighton pulled one back late but Villa held on for the win.
Leon Routh opened the scoring from Aidan Borland's assist on 25 minutes, and Rory Wilson doubled the lead five minutes later, Ben Broggio supplying the pass. Tyler Silsby scored for Brighton on 82 minutes from Kofi Shaw's assist, but Villa saw out the closing stages. The match featured five bookings, including Wilson and Routh in the first half.
The stats underline how tight it was: possession finished 50-50, and Villa had only one more shot on target, 4-3. Villa were the more productive side overall, though, with 10 shots to Brighton's five and five corners to three, and that edge in the final third proved decisive.
