Aston Villa’s top-four bid rocked by defeat to Brighton

Aston Villa’s bid to finish in the Premier League’s top four was rocked by a 1-0 defeat at Brighton on Sunday.

A Villa win combined with a Tottenham loss at Liverpool in Sunday’s late game would have sealed a Champions League place for Unai Emery’s side.

But Villa were unable to fulfil their part of that equation as Joao Pedro’s 87th-minute goal condemned them to a second painful defeat in four days.

Ending Brighton’s six-match winless run, Pedro headed in the rebound after Robin Olsen saved his penalty, which had been awarded for Ezri Konsa’s foul on Simon Adingra.

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Surprisingly beaten 4-2 by Olympiakos in the Europa Conference League semi-final first leg on Thursday, Villa were well below their best once again.

Villa remain in fourth place, seven points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham, who have two games in hand.

Emery’s men host Liverpool and travel to Crystal Palace in their last two games as they fight to return to the Champions League for the first time since 1982-83.