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• Unai Emery savours ‘special’ Villa Park atmosphere in rout of Brighton

  Aston Villa boss Unai Emery feels there is a special atmosphere brewing at Villa Park after his side romped to a remarkable 6-1 win against Brighton.

  A hat-trick from Ollie Watkins and further strikes from Jacob Ramsey and Douglas Luiz, as well as Pervis Estupinan’s own goal, helped Emery’s side secure a 10th successive league win at home.

  Despite Brighton’s Ansu Fati briefly reducing the deficit to 3-1 at the start of the second half, Villa were at their clinical best to leapfrog the Seagulls in the table and extend their winning streak at home.

  Emery said: “We have to feel something special at Villa Park and try to create a positive energy between us and the supporters and try to work on the pitch to connect with them.

  “We want to compete the same at home and away, we will need time to build the team to be consistent but at home we feel strong with our supporters and the energy the supporters are transmitting to us, we need to keep being consistent at home.

  “Ollie Watkins is committed to the club, he is very happy here and we are very happy with him, he works hard every day and tries to learn every day. He did very good work scoring goals and working defensively to help the team.

  “We have to be very demanding and try to improve every day, each match is going to demand different things, we have to be ready and be strong in our work to be successful.”

  Villa blew Brighton away with three quickfire goals in the first half as Watkins scored the opener on 14 minutes with a close-range finish before netting again on 21 minutes with a low effort past Jason Steele at his near post.

  Estupinan’s own goal on 26 minutes put Villa in command before Albion responded when half-time substitute Fati scored his first goal for the club five minutes into the second half.

  However, Watkins completed his hat-trick on 65 minutes with a deflected effort before Ramsey curled home on 85 minutes and Luiz rounded off the scoring seven minutes into injury time to inflict a heavy defeat on the Seagulls.

  Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi said: “Everything [went wrong], we played very bad.

  “It’s not a problem of our physical condition, first and foremost when we lose this type of game it’s my responsibility. If you lose 6-1, the biggest responsibility is of the coach.

  “We are not ready to compete and to play every three days, I’m trying to manage in different ways to keep the physical energy [up].

  “The physical energy is not enough, in football you have to be ready to give your all and your best in the head in the mentality. We can’t lose every tackle, every duel and every second ball otherwise you lose the game in this way.

  “But I believe in my players because I have big confidence in the people inside of my dressing room, we are suffering a lot for this defeat but this can happen sometimes if you are not ready and you have to adapt quickly.

  “We have to learn. We are suffering, it’s a very bad day but maybe one of the most important days – we want to reach this level.”

• Ollie Watkins scores hat-trick as rampant Aston Villa hit Brighton for six

  Ollie Watkins scored a hat-trick as Aston Villa recorded a 10th successive Premier League home win with a 6-1 thumping of Brighton.

  Watkins netted a first-half brace and Pervis Estupinan put through his own net as Villa scored three goals in the space of 13 minutes before the interval to blow Brighton away.

  Striker Watkins completed his hat-trick in the second half and set up substitute Jacob Ramsey for the home side’s fifth goal after Ansu Fati had briefly reduced the deficit before Douglas Luiz completed the scoring deep into added time.

  Victory for Unai Emery’s side extended their winning run to three matches, while Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton were denied the chance to go joint top of the table following their heaviest defeat under the Italian since he took charge in September last year.

  Brighton spurned a glorious early chance to take lead when Billy Gilmour played a delightful ball into Estupinan, only for Emiliano Martinez to make a crucial save.

  And that miss would prove costly as Villa broke the deadlock in the 14th when Watkins finished from close range after John McGinn’s superb pass released Matty Cash down the right.

  The home side doubled their lead after 21 minutes as Watkins somehow squeezed the ball past Jason Steele at his near post after latching on to Moussa Diaby’s through-ball down the left-hand side of the area.

  Moments later, Villa went close to another as Diaby’s drilled cross from the left was flicked to safety by the boot of Steele.

  The hosts continued to pile forward and looked to have put the game to bed after 26 minutes when Diaby’s shot deflected in off Estupinan as the defender ran back towards his own goal, Steele having denied the Villa man moments earlier.

  Following a dismal first-half performance, Brighton boss De Zerbi made a triple substitution at half-time as Fati, Joao Pedro and Tariq Lamptey all entered the fray.

  The Albion boss was quickly rewarded as Barcelona loanee Fati reduced the deficit after 50 minutes with a close-range finish after Pedro had just kept the ball in play, with the goal awarded following a lengthy VAR check for offside.

  However, Villa dashed any thoughts of a fightback after 65 minutes when McGinn’s pass found Watkins on the edge of the area and the striker’s shot deflected in off Adam Webster, with the ball looping over Seagulls keeper Steele.

  Albion almost scored a second goal in the final 10 minutes as substitute Simon Adingra’s dipping shot was magnificently tipped over the crossbar by Martinez.

  However, Villa scored their fifth after 85 minutes when substitute Ramsey curled a fine effort in off the right-hand post from the edge of the area from Watkins’ pass.

  And there was still time for Villa to add to Brighton’s misery as Luiz rolled the ball into an empty net seven minutes into added time after Steele had denied Watkins when one-on-one to round off a superb display from Emery’s men.

• Russell Martin says win over Leeds was “huge moment” in Southampton’s season

  Russell Martin has insisted Southampton are through their “toughest period” of the season after beating Leeds 3-1.

  Adam Armstrong’s classy double and Will Smallbone’s first league goal for Saints – all in the first half – helped end a four-game losing streak.

  Pascal Struijk pulled one back for the visitors in the second half but Martin was thrilled to get back to winning ways.

  The Saints boss said: “I’m really proud of the players. The feeling in the camp has been great considering the results we’ve had and they’ve gone all in today.

  “We scored some goals of the highest quality and hopefully the fans enjoyed them and it gives the players energy.

  “Hopefully that will be the toughest period we go through and the most difficult moments we go through in the season.

  “We have learned a lot to come through it and to come through a team like Leeds, who will be up there at the end of the season.

  “It will be a huge moment for us. The spirit, aggression and mentality of the team today was where we need to live.”

  Saints were ahead after 104 seconds when Kyle Walker-Peters threaded through to Armstrong, before the forward deftly clipped over Illan Meslier.

  Winger Kamaldeen Sulemana then set up Smallbone to divert in to the bottom corner and then fired across the box to allow Armstrong to fire in.

  They were Armstrong’s sixth and seventh goals of the season.

  “He’s been amazing and runs hard for the team,” said Martin, who played Armstrong on the right wing.

  “He can play in a number of roles and the one at the moment really suits us.

  “I told him he’d play there for a bit and he’s getting better and better.

  “He is a threat wherever he plays and I trust him with whatever we ask him to do, and he does it.”

  Leeds coach Daniel Farke kept his side in the dressing room until the last possible moment and his extra details worked 13 minutes after the restart.

  A corner bobbled around the box before Struijk pulled the ball down on the swivel to poke home.

  Farke said he remained calm during the break, adding: “I wanted to give the players the chance to show a reaction in the second half.

  “I didn’t want to make two or three substitutions at half time and embarrass them, I didn’t get the feeling that two or three players were to blame.

  “On 99 per cent of all cases as a manager that at half time being 3-0 down I would have thrown bottles and killed someone.

  “Today I got the feeling that we had been unlucky and concentrated on how we could turn the game. I talked calmly about winning the second half – and I got the exact reaction I wanted.

  “What decided the game was our defensive behaviour, it was not spot on like in the last four games – where we have four clean sheets.

  “We needed to be more aware and awake in the decisive moments but apart from the goals I can’t remember a situation when Meslier had to make a save.

  “Sometimes tiny little moments can make a big difference. When you are 3-0 down at half-time it is always difficult to return with the points.”