Albion put four past Villa in enthralling win

Albion 4 Aston Villa 2: Nikita Parris, Pauline Bremer, Fran Kirby and Michelle Agyemang on target as both teams finish with ten players.

Bruce Talbot

2024-10-05T14:35+01:00

Michelle Agyemang rounded off the scoring with her first goal of the season. 📷 by Kyle Hemsley.

Albion have already won more WSL points at home than they did last season after beating Aston Villa to claim their second successive win at the Broadfield Stadium.

Nikita Parris had levelled 75 seconds after Rachel Daly’s 13th-minute opener for Villa and Parris created Albion’s second for Pauline Bremer seven minutes before the break.

Daly equalised early in the second half from the spot, but Fran Kirby scored her third goal of the season from the penalty spot 11 minutes from time after Villa had been reduced to ten players when Paula Tomas was shown a straight red card.

Albion also finished with ten when Poppy Pattinson picked up a second yellow card but deep into stoppage time substitute Michelle Agyemang raced through to make it 4-2 with a powerful finish.

Villa’s opener was a poor goal from an Albion perspective. Kirsty Hanson had too much space down the left and her low cross was turned in by Daly, whose shot took a healthy deflection off Guro Bergsvand and past Sophie Baggaley.

Nikita Parris celebrates her first goal for Albion, equalising against Aston Villa. 📷 by Kyle Hemsley.

Albion responded in style. Maria Thorisdottir’s angled cross from the right picked out Pattinson. She did superbly to turn the ball back from the byline to Parris, who got in front of her marker to beat Sabrina D’Angelo from close range. It was an instinctive finish by the England international and her first goal for the club.

Parris was having a big influence on the game and showed her quality when Albion went in front after 38 minutes. She slipped a perfectly weighted pass between two Villa defenders and Bremer whipped a left-foot shot across D’Angelo and into the far corner for her first goal of the season.

An excellent first half ended with a strong Villa response. Baggaley had to push away Hanson’s shot and Tomas fired over from close range after being found by Daly’s downward header.

Pauline Bremer got on the end of Nikita Parris's ball into the box and slotted into the bottom right corner. 📷 by Kyle Hemsley.

Villa were the better side at the start of the second half and ten minutes in they levelled when Bergsvand brought down Anna Patten in the box and Daly sent Baggaley the wrong way from the penalty spot.

Villa looked the likelier winners at that stage but with 14 minutes to go came a dramatic twist. Tomas was shown a straight for flattening Kiko Seike in the box and in the aftermath Pattinson and ex-Albion winger Katie Robinson were booked. Kirby showed no nerves as she coolly slotted in the penalty to restore Albion’s lead.

The victory marked Albion's second in three WSL games. 📷 by Kyle Hemsley.

Pattinson was sent off for delaying the restart, but Albion made the game safe deep into stoppage time when Agyemang displayed pace and power as she burst into the box before firing low past D’Angelo.

Albion: Baggaley, Thorisdiottir, Bergsvand, Carabali, Pattinson, Losada (Cancovic 74), Olislagers (Symonds 45), Bremer (Haley 74), Bruna (Seike 45), Kirby (Agyemang 88), Parris.