With both sides finishing the match with just ten players apiece after a thrilling encounter at Crawley's Broadfield Stadium, Brighton claim their second home victory of the season against a winless Aston Villa.

Rachel Daly handed the visitors the lead early on before Nikita Parris opened her Brighton account in her first start for the club less than two minutes later, with Pauline Bremer netting just before the break to give Dario Vidisic's side the advantage.

Daly equalised from the penalty spot before the hour mark, with Fran Kirby also converting from twelve yards out after Paula Tomas was shown a red card for elbowing Kiko Seike.

As it happened Both Brighton and Aston Villa welcomed new faces in the dugout over the summer break, with both managers proving popular for their expansive style of attacking football.

But the hosts were caught out early on by Kirsty Hanson's rapid break into the box, which allowed the Scotland international to tee up Rachel Daly for her second goal in as many matches.

The visitors' celebrations had barely died down before Brighton restored parity at the Broadfield Stadium though, with Poppy Pattinson firing Maria THorisdottir's cross back into the box. Nikita Parris, making her first league start since a summer switch from Manchester United, timed her arrival to perfection to slot home the equaliser.

That was until Parris dashed past Aston Villa's Kenza Dali, releasing Pauline Bremer to permit the German forward to complete the Seagulls' comeback just seven minutes before the break.

But that lead soon slipped away as play recommenced for the second half, with Anna Patten winning a penalty after being fouled inside the box by Guro Bergsvand, and Daly slotted home with aplomb from twelve yards out to record her second goal of the afternoon.

A second dismissal took place within stoppage time as Poppy Pattinson was shown red after committing a second bookable offence, ensuring both teams would see out the remainder of the clash with ten players apiece.

Keen to make an impact after being introduced as a late substitute, Michelle Agyemang slotted past Sabrina D'Angelo in the 7th minute of stoppage time to register her first goal for the South Coast club since joining on loan from Arsenal.

The result sees Brighton temporarily move up into second in the WSL standings ahead of Sunday's action, which could see them leapfrogged by Tottenham, Arsenal or Manchester City. Aston Villa sit ninth in the table, yet to pick up a league win under Robert de Pauw despite impressive performances.

The lineups BHA: Baggaley; Carabali, Bergsvand, THorisdottir; Pattinson, Losada, Olislagers, Kirby; Bruna, Parris, Bremer

AVL: D'Angelo; Parker, Patten, Maritz; Tomas, Kearns, Nobbs, Grant; Hanson, Dali; Daly

Rhys Webb