In-form Aston Villa beat Brighton 4-3 to climb up to third in the table.
Villa produced a stunning fightback against the Seagulls to continue their fine form with an eighth win in nine league games. The visitors were their own worst enemies in a dreadful start. Jan Paul van Hecke bundled in from a corner after Villa goalkeeper Marco Bizot failed to collect. Pau Torres then turned past Bizot into his own net from Jack Hinshelwood’s cross.
Ollie Watkins had scored just once in 19 previous appearances this season but turned the game around with a quickfire double before the break. The England striker forced in Ian Maatsen’s low cross before latching onto Morgan Rogers’ brilliant through ball to slam past Bart Verbruggen.
Amadou Onana completed the comeback with a back-post header from Matty Cash’s corner before Donyell Malen made it 4-2. Centre-back Van Hecke curled in his second of the night to set up a tense finale, but Brighton succumbed to their first home defeat of the season.
Wolves suffered an eighth consecutive defeat as Igor Jesus’ header earned Nottingham Forest a 1-0 win at Molineux that moved Sean Dyche’s men four points clear of the relegation zone. Burnley also remain rooted in the bottom three after Daniel Munoz scored the only goal in a 1-0 win that lifted Crystal Palace up to sixth.
