Carabao Cup: Brighton 1 Aston Villa 3 - Report and pictures

A 6-1 win over League Two Crewe was followed up with a 3-1 triumph away to a Brighton team made up mainly of teenagers.

Villa too were much-changed but experienced and their victory never looked in any serious doubt from the moment Jota fired them into a 22nd minute lead.

Further goals from Conor Hourihane and Jack Grealish, the latter after 17-year-old Haydon Roberts had briefly threatened to make things interesting courtesy of his first career goal.

It was a goal which underlined the fact Villa’s performance was a long way from perfect, with their inability to completely kill off an opponent when on top once more a concern.

The biggest positives came from the performances of Hourihane, Keinan Davis and the fact that, without really breaking sweat, Dean Smtih’s men are through to the last-16.

This looked like a mismatch from the moment the teams were announced.

Though Smith made nine changes from the XI which started Sunday’s 3-2 defeat at Arsenal, Villa’s team was still packed with experience and included six of their 12 summer signings.

The absence of Henri Lansbury through an ankle injury meant there was even a place for John McGinn, while Hourihane was handed a start following his brace in the 6-1 second round win at Crewe.

Brighton’s team, by contrast, featured just three first-team regulars alongside a host of under-18s and 23s.

Of those named in the Seagulls starting XI, eight were aged 20 or below, including six teenagers.

It was not, however, a team lacking talent and Aaron Connolly, a player who has been blooded in the Premier League, provided Villa’s defence with some nervy early moments.

The 19-year-old Irishman forced Jed Steer into the first serious save of the match when he finished a barrelling run with a rising shot the Villa keeper was forced to tip over the bar.

Villa saw plenty of the ball in the opening stages but were wasteful with it and nearly 20 minutes had passed before David Button was given any serious reason for alarm, Douglas Luiz picking out Jota with a chipped pass which the Spaniard volleyed into the Brighton keeper’s legs from close range.

Soon after it was Jota who broke the deadlock as Villa finally found their cutting edge. A neat move down the left ended with Hourihane whipping in a low cross which Button, diving forward, could only punch into the path of the Spaniard who powered a first-time, left-footed finish into the net.

It was the same flank which produced the second goal of the night 11 minutes later. Neat passing from Trezeguet and Matt Targett sent Davis racing away down the left and his pull back was swept home by Hourihane.

Things were already looking ominous for Brighton’s youngsters, though Connolly almost brought them back into it before the break, hammering a shot off the angle of post and bar following an impressive move from the hosts.

The Seagulls saw appeals for a penalty waved away early in the second half as Peter Gwargis tumbled in the box but it wasn’t long before Button was in action again, first beating away a fierce McGinn effort before tipping a rising Trezeguet effort over the bar.

But the third goal didn’t arrive and instead it was the hosts who scored, Villa punished for switching off at a corner as Roberts headed home.

The home crowd were suddenly roused from their slumbers and perhaps sensed something special when substitute Ryan Longman curled a shot into the arms of Steer soon after.

Grealish’s introduction quickly saw Villa regain control and it was the skipper who restored the two-goal cushion, thumping home a low first-time shot home after Targett’s cross was cleared to him on the edge of the box.

Brighton (4-5-1): Button, Davies, Duffy (Yapi 72), Roberts, Bong, Gwargis, Richards, Jenks (Spong 82), Baluta, Cochrane, Connolly (Longman 58) Subs not used: Davies, O’Hora, Radulovic, Steele (gk).

Villa (4-3-3): Steer, Elmohamady, Konsa, Hause, Targett, McGinn (Grealish 66), Luiz, Hourihane, Jota, Davis, Trezeguet (Ramsey 80) Subs not used: Wesley, El Ghazi, Guilbert, Mings, Nyland (gk).