It was Brighton who came out on top in Saturdays only game in the Womens Super league as they beat Aston Villa 4-2 at the Broadfield Stadium.
It was Rachel Daly who put Villa up after 13 minutes with a tidy finish from close range after a cutback from winger Kirsty Hanson.
Brighton equalized almost immediately after with Nikita Parris’s prod home from close range. The summer signing from Manchester United scored her first goal for the Seagulls, also providing an assist for Pauline Bremer’s strike into the bottom corner.
Embed from Getty ImagesAfter the break, it was Villa who started strongly as they were awarded a penalty in the 54th minute and Daly stepped up confidently to make it two for her and two for Villa.
With 15 minutes to go, the game was flipped on its head as Brighton were awarded a late penalty. Defender Tomas was judged to have illegally blocked Kiko Seike’s run into the box, which shocked the Spain left-back as she was shown a straight red card.
Fran Kirby slotted the penalty calmly into the bottom left corner, making it two goals in her debut season for Brighton so far, 3-2.
Embed from Getty ImagesIn another late twist to the tale, Poppy Pattinson was sent off for a second yellow card, but that was not enough to stop Brighton from putting the game to bed as substitute Michelle Agyemang’s low strike made it 4-2 in the final seconds.
The result means Brighton continues their strong start to the season under new head coach Dario Vidosic.