Football
Marcus Rashford nets first Premier League goal for Aston Villa in 3-0 win over Brighton
Olly Taliku has worked with highly respected sports and gambling websites where he has produced hundreds of articles, as well as being published with Burton Albion and Chesterfield FC. At Burton Olly worked closely alongside the women's team, producing mainly matchday content including reports and interviews, while at Chesterfield he worked in a similar role but with the academy side, as well as some first team content. He also has experience as an accredited Premier League and EFL writer for Prost International where he worked during the 2021/22 season to produce matchday content as an on location reporter. Olly specialises in football as well as long form SEO content plus news, tips and betting but also produces content on basketball, baseball and American football.
Get to know Oliver Taliku betterPublished02 Apr 2025
Marcus Rashford continued his goalscoring form for Aston Villa on Wednesday night, scoring his first Premier League goal for the Villains as they breezed past Brighton.
Rashford & Asensio star again
In a first half where real chances were few and far between, Aston Villa thought they had penalty just before half time when Jack Hinshelwood caught Jacob Ramsey with a flailing leg in the box.
However after a quick consultation with VAR the referees decision stood and the already cautioned Hinshelwood got away with a careless challenge in the box.
It was the hosts who went closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half, as just before the break Yasin Ayari whipped a free kick towards the bottom left corner with his effort just clipping off the post.
Villa came out of the blocks quickest after the break and they found the back of the net within just over five minutes of the restart.
From a Brighton corner Villa pounced on the counter attack and a long ball over the top found Marcus Rashford through on goal. The 27-year-old didn’t flinch as he clipped a tidy finish over the onrushing Verbruggen for his first Premier League goal since ing Villa.
The hosts thought they had equalised just a minute later in a goalmouth scramble, but Simon Adingra’s goal was ruled out after Kaoru Mitoma was adjudged to handle the ball in the buildup.
Villa put the game to bed with just under 15 minutes left to play at the Amex as substitute Marco Asensio once again provided when called upon. Morgan Rogers found the Spaniard in acres of space in the box and the former Real Madrid star simply ed a shot into the corner to secure all three points.
The visitors rubbed salt into Brighton’s wounds deep into added time as Donyell Malen drove a low shot into the bottom corner for his first goal since ing Villa.
WATCH: Brighton 0-3 Aston Villa highlights
Villa leapfrog Seagulls in race for Europe
The three points for Aston Villa on Wednesday night could prove to be crucial by the end of their season as they jumped above Brighton in the Premier League standings to seventh.
There could be up to seven teams from England in Europe next season so Villa’s hopes of playing in a UEFA competition are very much still alive.
Of course Villa still have this years Champions League to contend with and they face a tricky tie against a PSG side that just knocked out Liverpool.
With only eight games left there is just three points separating Brighton in eighth and Newcastle in fifth so the Seagulls chances of playing in Europe for the first time since 2023 still hang in the balance.