Aston Villa manager Unai Emery says his side are “in the race for the second half of the season” after a 2-2 draw at home to Brighton.
Goals from Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers put Villa ahead, but Tariq Lamptey’s fine low strike secured a point for the Seagulls.
This means that Villa enter 2025 in ninth place – but only six points from the top four.
Your support has been sensational throughout 2024, thank you Villans 💜 pic.twitter.com/QW6oXZJHAU
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) December 30, 2024
Emery said: “I have to accept the result but I’m a bit frustrated with it. The table is tight, but we are in the race for the second part of the season.
“We are ninth in the table and we have to try to start again against Leicester. We end the first part of the season with 29 points, not the best, but not the worst either.
“This league is very tight and we have to try to improve and correct why we are conceding a lot of goals. We started the second half very well when we scored goals and created chances. We created enough chances to score and win the game.”
Injury to Torres
Villa lost defender Pau Torres to injury after just 20 minutes and Emery was concerned the Spaniard may have broken his foot.
“I don’t think it’s a major injury, but I think he might have broken a metatarsal bone, maybe,” Emery said.
We have players to replace him, but he is very important. Tomorrow he will confirm the injury he has.”
