As Brighton slip up at Villa
and Brighton’s failure cling on to top spot.
Grealish struck to leave Brighton goalkeeper David Stockdale inconsolable as Villa snatched an equaliser in a 1-1 draw.
Brighton had looked on course to claim the title when Glenn Murray slotted home his 23rd goal of the season from the penalty spot in the 64th minute after Nathan Baker had been sent off for pulling back Sam Baldock when through on to goal. But Stockdale failed to react quickly enough to keep out Grealish’s speculative shot from the edge of the box.
Manager Chris Hughton refused to attach any blame to Stockdale for the final day disappointment, saying: “That’s the life of a goalkeeper for you.
“He has been excellent for us all season and he made a couple of great saves before the goal. As a team, we have to accept it and take responsibility just David.”
Reading confirmed their position in third with a 4-2 win over Burton and will face Fulham, who won 2-1 at Sheffield Wednesday, in the play-offs. The Owls ended the season in fourth and will play Huddersfield, who lost 3-0 at home to Cardiff.
Huddersfield head coach David Wagner will view the match video before deciding whether to appeal against goalkeeper Danny Ward’s for it, not red card. Ward was adjudged to have handled the ball as he slid in to challenge Junior Hoilett outside the box 20 minutes into the match, and will miss the first leg of the play-off semi-finals on Sunday unless Wagner launches a successful appeal.
“Danny says he touched the ball with his shoulder, not his arms or his hand. If we can clearly see the referee made the wrong decision, we’ll appeal,” said Wagner.