Aston Villa manager Unai Emery said his side are “in the race for the second part of the season” after a 2-2 draw at home to Brighton.
Goals from Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers put Villa ahead but a brilliant low shot from Tariq Lamptey secured a point for the Seagulls.
This means Villa enter 2025 in ninth place – but just six points off the top four.
Your support has been amazing throughout 2024, thank you Villans 💜 pic.twitter.com/QW6oXZJHAU
– Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) December 30, 2024
“I have to accept the result, but I'm a little disappointed with it,” Emery said. “The schedule is very tight but we are in the race for the second part of the season.
“We are ninth in the standings and we have to try to start again against Leicester. We finished the first part of the season with 29 points, which is not the best but not the worst.
“This league is very close and we have to try to improve and correct why we conceded so many goals. We started the second half perfectly in terms of scoring goals and creating chances. We created enough chances to score and win the match.”
Torres injury
Villa lost defender Pau Torres to injury after just 20 minutes, with Emery concerned that the Spaniard may have broken his foot.
“I think it's not a major injury, but I think he might have fractured his metatarsal,” Emery said.
“We have players to replace him but he is very important. Tomorrow we will confirm his injury.”
