Fabian Hurzeler felt Brighton were "dominant" prior to Aston Villa scoring their opening goal in a 3-0 defeat for the Seagulls on Wednesday.

Second-half goals from Marcus Rashford, Marco Asensio, and Donyell Malen consigned Brighton to a costly defeat in the race for Champions League football at the Amex Stadium.

Brighton had more shots (11 to eight) and shots in the area (eight to seven) than Villa, while the visitors' superior expected goals (xG) of 1.2 to 1.01 was certainly aided by the late goals for Asensio and Malen.

But they were undone in the 51st minute by a long Morgan Rogers punt forward that Rashford raced onto and finished past Bert Verbruggen.

It was that moment that Hurzeler particularly rued, as he told Sky Sports: "After the goal for them, the game changed. 

"They defended in a low block and it was quite good. We weren't able to create any more chances. The first goal changed the game.

"It was frustrating in that moment to concede a goal so easily. We were dominant. We needed a bit of time."

"We have to reanalyse the game and be honest with each other." Fabian's #BHAAVL reaction. pic.twitter.com/y1rgBHzH9d

— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) April 2, 2025

Brighton had chances of their own in what was a close contest despite what the scoreline suggests, with Simon Adingra seeing a goal ruled out after Kaoru Mitoma was judged to have handled in the penalty area.

They slipped to eighth in the table as a result of the defeat, with Villa leapfrogging their opponents into seventh.

Hurzeler added: "We scored, but it was disallowed. It was a mix of everything but we have to do it better.

"These are the things we can influence on the pitch. How we are positioned off the corner and high pressure. We need to do this right, otherwise you don't deserve to win.

"I would say we were just not precise. I don't think the maturity would have made the difference today.

"Do the small things right. To do the things we need to win on the pitch. These we have to maximise.

"We have to work on this, and we have to take the next chance on Saturday."