Pedro’s late goal seals 1-0 win for Brighton against Aston Villa
BRIGHTON, England (AP) — Joao Pedro scored an 87th-minute winner as Brighton beat Aston Villa 1-0 in the Premier League on Sunday.
Victory for Brighton ended its six-match winless run in the league and also dented Villa’s bid to secure a top-four finish.
Fourth-place Villa travelled to the Amex Stadium knowing a win would have secured Champions League qualification next season if Tottenham lost to Liverpool later in the day. But after losing 4-2 against Olympiakos in the first leg of the Europa Conference League semifinals on Thursday, it suffered another setback.
Pedro headed home the winner from a rebound after his late penalty was saved by Robin Olsen.
Brighton was seeking only a fourth league win in 2024 and its only goal in its last five league outings was an own goal by Burnley goalkeeper Arijanet Muric in a 1-1 draw three weeks ago.
The home team was given the chance to break that run when Simon Adingra went down under a challenge from Ezri Konsa.
While Pedro’s initial effort was kept out by Olsen, the ball looped up kindly for the Brazil forward to head in.
Villa had nine minutes of added time to salvage a point but never looked like doing so as their top-four hopes were dealt a blow.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer