Three-dom HATS OFF TO WATKINS AS VILLA C Fighter Ollie OMPLETE DEMOLITION DE ZERBI
WHATEVER contractual paperwork Aston Villa have been working on to present to Ollie Watkins is now in need of an update.. Don’t judge Watkins on the strength of his hattrick, the seven goals he has scored this season, or even the 50 he has now claimed in his three years with the club. Consider, instead, his reaction when Douglas Luiz made it 6-1 deep into stoppage time.
As his team-mates celebrated – and Brighton players hung their heads in shame – Watkins angrily thumped the turf, furious with himself he had not scored a fourth after his shot was saved by Seagulls keeper Jason Steele.
His irritation suggests a player driven towards higher standards.
He should not need to work too hard to convince Villa of his worth as he negotiates a new deal.
Persuading the watching Gareth Southgate he should bring Watkins back into the England squad might prove trickier – his last cap was in March 2022.
Watkins, though, could not have done much more than his second hat-trick of the season, his assist for Jacob Ramsey’s goal, or his part in Luiz’s strike and the own goal by Pervis Estupinan.
Southgate is big on context, though, and the mitigation in not jumping on the Watkins bandwagon was that Brighton were inexplicably awful.
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If Brighton looked rattled at 2-0 down after 21 minutes, their minds appeared scrambled when they conceded a third five minutes later.
This time it was the mere presence of Watkins that had the Seagulls flapping as Estupinan got his feet in a tangle and put through his own net.
Brighton substitute Ansu Fati pulled a goal back but Watkins clinched his hat-trick when his powerful shot was deflected in.
There was still time for Villa to inflict more pain on Brighton with goals from Ramsey and Luiz.