Premier League: Villa qualify for Conference League
Aston Villa 2 - 1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Aston Villa beat Brighton at Park to secure a return to European football.
The home needed to win to finish seventh in the Premier League and earn a spot in the playoffs for the Europa Conference League.
Villa flew out of the blocks and forged ahead when Douglas Luiz scored after eight minutes.
Premier League news (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com)
The architect of the first goal, Jacob Ramsey played creator once again when he unselfishly teed up Ollie Watkins to make it 2-0 with 28 minutes played.
As he did for the first goal, Jacob Ramsey played creator again. He unselfishly teed up Ollie Watkins to make it 2-0 with 28 minutes played.
In the 38th minute, a VAR decision went Undav's way when he scored following a quickly taken free-kick by Pascal Gross. The assistant referee had initially flagged for offside, but this decision was overruled.
Click here to watch the highlights via the Aston Villa Facebook page.
The best reaction from Villa fans
Craig Jacobs told us: "There's almost a perfect storm about to happen over Villa Park. We have fantastic owners, a world-class manager and with a few additions, a decent squad. Who knows what the future holds?"
Chris added: "I never had any doubt about this result. People forget this team has been put together over several seasons."
Read about news and stories from Villa Park.
Liam Thompson was in attendance at Villa Park. He added: "In October, we were only out of the relegation zone on goals scored, with two wins from 11 games when Steven Gerrard was sacked an hour after that awful 3-0 loss to Fulham. Our form since then has been incredible. We have been so good to watch. I can't wait to see us in Europe now."
What about the Brighton fans?
Phil Jones (not that Phil Jones) is a Brighton Season Ticket holder. He was at Villa Park in the away end. Phil told us: "Robert: The end of a fantastic season. I can't believe we are in the Europa League next season."
Paul had a similar view to Phil. He added: "After Potter left in September, with almost the entire training staff, it felt like we'd been mugged. Just eight months later, we are wondering what has just happened. The football played by us has been amazing for the majority of the season."
