Aston Villa humiliated 4-0 by Brighton as Manchester City complete dramatic late comeback

Aston Villa endured a nightmare start to their Premier League season as Unai Emery's side were demolished 4-0 by Brighton & Hove Albion, while Manchester City needed two late goals to beat Bournemouth 2-1.

Villa's afternoon effectively unravelled inside the opening half-hour at the Amex Stadium.

Victor Lindelöf scored an own goal before Maxim De Cuyper doubled Brighton's advantage. Jack Hinshelwood then struck twice in the space of two minutes to leave Villa 4-0 down before half-time.

Things became even worse when €40million summer signing Joao Gomes was shown a straight red card just before the break.

Emery started Marco Bizot and Ian Maatsen, but Villa simply could not cope with Brighton during a devastating opening period.

Mats Wieffer started at right-back for the hosts as Brighton took complete control of the match.

Lindelöf's own goal opened the scoring before De Cuyper quickly made it 2-0.

Hinshelwood then took centre stage.

The Brighton midfielder scored twice in two minutes as Villa's defence collapsed, giving the home side an extraordinary four-goal advantage after little more than half an hour.

Villa's hopes of producing any kind of response were then effectively ended by Gomes' dismissal.

Gomes could hardly have endured a more difficult introduction to life at Aston Villa.

The midfielder, signed for €40m, was handed his debut by Emery but received a straight red card shortly before half-time.

Villa therefore entered the second half four goals and one player down.

At that point, damage limitation became the priority.

Brighton failed to add another goal after the break, allowing Villa to avoid an even heavier defeat. Lamare Bogarde was introduced from the bench for the visitors, but there was no route back into the contest.

The 4-0 scoreline leaves Emery with plenty to address following an alarming opening performance.

Manchester City also looked in danger of beginning their league campaign with defeat.

Enzo Maresca's side entered the match after suffering a 3-0 loss against Arsenal in the Community Shield.

Bournemouth then threatened to make City's difficult start even worse.

Marcus Tavernier gave the visitors the lead after half an hour and Bournemouth protected their 1-0 advantage deep into the match.

City eventually found their escape route through two defenders.

Marc Guéhi equalised from a Rayan Cherki corner before Josko Gvardiol completed the turnaround in stoppage time.

Cherki provided the assist again, with Gvardiol's goal initially disallowed before VAR intervened and awarded it.

City had escaped with a 2-1 victory.

There was another notable moment when Jack Grealish came off the Manchester City bench.

It was the attacker's first appearance for the club in 460 days.

Summer signing Elliot Anderson had earlier been forced off with an injury shortly after the hour mark, while Justin Kluivert played 75 minutes for Bournemouth.

The victory means City avoid joining Manchester United and Tottenham in suffering an opening-day defeat.

United lost 2-0 away to promoted Hull City, while Tottenham were beaten 3-0 by Brentford. Defending champions Arsenal, meanwhile, opened their campaign with a 3-0 victory over Coventry City.

Emery now faces an immediate challenge to restore confidence after one of the worst possible starts to Villa's season. The manner of the defeat will be particularly concerning, with Brighton effectively ending the contest inside the opening half-hour before Gomes' red card made matters worse.

Manchester City can take encouragement from their late response, but Maresca will know his side came extremely close to starting the season with consecutive defeats following their Community Shield loss to Arsenal.

Who should be more concerned after the opening weekend: Aston Villa after their 4-0 collapse or Manchester City despite their late victory?