Ollie Watkins scored a hat-trick as Aston Villa dominated Brighton 6-1 in the Premier League on Saturday, bolstering his case for an England call-up.
Before Pervis Estupinan’s own goal gave the home team a three-goal lead at Villa Park, Watkins scored twice in the opening period.
In the second half, Ansu Fati pulled one back for Brighton, but Watkins finished his hat trick to solidify his international credentials.
Watkins has seven caps for England but was not selected for the team that last played in September.
Watkins put himself in line to be selected next week for the Three Lions’ October fixtures against Australia and Italy while England manager Gareth Southgate watched from the stands.
In the dying minutes, Jacob Ramsey and Douglas Luiz scored goals for Villa to make it their largest victory of the year.
The new shirts for the club this year have drawn criticism from Villa’s players, who claim they are uncomfortable because they hold too much sweat.
However, Unai Emery’s team barely had to exert any effort to defeat sluggish Brighton, who were utterly destroyed by a scorching run of three goals in as many minutes at Villa Park during the first half.
Prior to the rest of the weekend’s games, Villa is third in the table after winning five of their first seven league games.
Villa’s total of 58 points this season is only surpassed by Manchester City’s 71, underscoring Emery’s outstanding performance since manager took over for the fired Steven Gerrard.
Villa has won ten straight games at home and has sincere hopes of contending for a top-four finish.
Fourth-placed Brighton has had a terrible week after winning five of their first six league games. They lost at struggling Chelsea in the League Cup before giving up to Villa.
Villa scored after just 14 minutes when John McGinn’s precise pass set Matty Cash free along the right flank.
Watkins scored his fifth goal of the year from within the six-yard box after Cash’s low cross was precisely weighted.
The 27-year-old didn’t have to wait long to score his second; in the 21st minute, he created a beautiful solo goal.
Watkins sprinted into the penalty area after receiving a pass from Moussa Diaby and skillfully cut back inside two Brighton players before firing a low effort past Jason Steele.
Watkins gave Villa a boost, and when they scored their third goal in the 26th minute, he again played a part.
This time, Watkins started the move when he set up Diaby just inside the box. Steele stopped Diaby’s first shot, but the forward’s errant follow-up got a fortunate deflection off Estupinan and into the back of the net.
In the 50th minute, Fati cut the lead in half by converting a close-range attempt on Joao Pedro’s cross before a protracted VAR review for offside finally resulted in the goal.
But in the 65th minute, Watkins ended any chance of a stunning Brighton comeback as his deflected drive looped over Steele from the edge of the box.
In the 85th minute, Ramsey struck a beautiful finish into the far corner from 18 yards with Brighton in ruins.
When he side-footed in from the edge of the box in the dying seconds, Luiz added gloss to Villa’s impressive performance.
