Aston Villa head into the break for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with two successive wins in the Premier League as they beat Brighton 2-1 away from home on Sunday.

Unai Emery has won both of his opening two matches in charge of the Villans after putting Manchester United to the sword with a 3-1 win in the top-flight last weekend.

Brighton took the lead in the opening minute of the match as Douglas Luiz was caught on the ball on the edge of the box and Alexis Mac Allister made the most of his chance to fire past his international colleague.

John McGinn then earned Villa the opportunity to equalise as he was taken down by Lewis Dunk in the box. Danny Ings dispatched the penalty, via a weak hand by Roberto Sanchez, to make it 1-1 heading into half time.

The English striker doubled his tally before the hour-mark as he jinked past Dunk before seeing his low effort deflect into the bottom corner after good work from Luiz to win the ball back.

Whilst the ex-Southampton man was the match-winner for Villa with his two goals, the real hero for Emery on the day was defensive midfielder Boubacar Kamara.

The French enforcer was a rock at the base of the midfield as he screened the defence brilliantly and made good use of possession when he had a chance to put his foot on the ball.

As per SofaScore, he completed 83% of his attempted passes and completed 100% of his attempted dribbles, despite Brighton pressing high and trying to push for an equaliser.

He kept his composure in the middle of the park and made sure that he found a teammate with his pass more often than not, giving the hosts fewer chances to come at the Villa backline.

The midfielder's defensive work was particularly impressive as he constantly put pressure on the opposition and engaged to win the ball back for his side.

As per SofaScore, he won 72% (8/11) of his ground duels, whilst making five clearances and six tackles - only being dribbled past once in the process. This shows that he was solid in his play out of possession as he was able to dominate the opposition on the ground.

Therefore, the midfield machine - who had 46 touches in the game - was the real hero of the day for Villa as he put in a fantastic display that typified the battling, hard-working, nature of the team's performance, which played a pivotal role in winning all three points.