Aston Villa secured a first away win in the Premier League this season on the back of Danny Ings’ brace against Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday.
Proceedings got off to a rocky start for the visitors, who had to show their resilience after falling behind to Alexis Mac Allister’s goal 46 seconds into the game.
Ings made no mistake from the penalty spot to level the match after 20 minutes, notching the 100th league goal of his career in the process.
And the forward, who led the line in the absence of Ollie Watkins, was on target once again to coolly slide home the winner after 54 minutes as Villa head into the World Cup break on a high.
Head coach Unai Emery made three changes to the team that beat Manchester United 3-1 in their last top-flight outing, bringing Boubacar Kamara, Ings and captain John McGinn into the starting XI.
Villa made a lightning-fast start in last weekend’s win but they quickly fell behind on the south coast when Mac Allister fired the hosts in front with less than a minute played.
Douglas Luiz was dispossessed just outside the visitors’ penalty area by Brighton’s No10, and the Argentine clinically thumped the ball past his countryman Emi Martínez.
The away side were clearly committed to playing out from the back but it was a route one ball from Martínez that fashioned Villa’s first opening of the game, with Ings latching onto it and seeing his shot deflected narrowly over.
Ings, who started in place of the ill Ollie Watkins, was involved again when Villa almost found a passage to goal after 17 minutes.
Some neat interchanges between the striker, Jacob Ramsey and Emi Buendia resulted in Pervis Estupinan making a goal-saving interception as McGinn readied himself for a tap-in at the back post.
The Scot did make a telling contribution minutes later when he raced onto a through ball and got there ahead of Dunk, whose late slide tackle saw referee Chris Kavanagh point to the spot.
Roberto Sanchez got a hand to Ings’ driven penalty but couldn't keep it out as the forward notched his landmark goal.
The game developed into a midfield battle as the half wore on, and by the time the half-time whistle sounded, each side had registered only one shot on target.
At the start of the second half, Villa’s attacking talent came to the fore when they snatched the initiative after 54 minutes.
In an attempt to clear their lines after Emi Buendia’s header struck a post, Brighton were caught out when Luiz gained revenge on Mac Allister and teed up Ings, who showed immense composure to slip past a defender before sneaking the ball in at the near post.
Ings headed off the pitch to a standing ovation from a buoyant away support in the final ten minutes as part of three substitutions by Emery, with Cameron Archer, Ludwig Augustinsson and Leander Dendoncker entering the fray.
Meanwhile, the home crowd became increasingly agitated as their side failed to seriously test Martínez, finding claret and blue shirts in their way at every turn.
The addition of eight minutes of stoppage time set Villa nerves jangling but the three points were won without major alarm as Emery's men held firm.
