Joao Pedro nets late winner after missing penalty as Aston Villa ...

Aston Villa missed the chance to extend their lead over Tottenham Hotspur in fourth place to 10 points after they suffered a late 1-0 defeat on the road against Brighton.

Pascal Gross and John McGinn both had goals ruled out for offside and after missing the initial penalty, Joao Pedro headed Brighton ahead late on from the rebound.

In a relatively even first 45 minutes, the hosts enjoyed the best of the early action and threatened Robin Olsen’s goal on several occasions but without much conviction.

Simon Adingra looked sharp when nicked the ball in midfield, burst forward and skipped past John McGinn before firing an effort towards Olsen, which was palmed away to safety by the Emiliano Martinez replacement.

Olsen was then caught by the onrushing Adingra when he made a vital interception, which left the goalkeeper needing medical treatment.

But he was fine to continue and on the stroke of half-time produced a sensational stop to deny Brighton their best chance of the game. Again, Adingra was involved and dinked a fine ball into the path of Pascal Gross, who had run beyond the Villa defence and tried to take the ball around the Swede, who intercepted with a stretched leg.

Olsen was called into action again early in the second half when he came off his line to close down and deny Joao Pedro's close-range effort at the front post with his legs.

The Seagulls had another good chance to put themselves ahead when Julio Enciso was set through on goal - thanks to another superb ball over the top from Adingra - but Enciso sent his curled effort floating over the crossbar.

Brighton thought their persistence had paid off when Pedro's low cross from the left was neatly tucked in at the front post by Gross, but the midfielder was ruled outside by the finest of margins.

Minutes later the ball was in the other net when Leon Bailey's cross found John McGinn in a similar position. The Scot turned well on the edge of the six-yard box before slipping the ball past Bart Verbruggen, but he has also stayed offside.

In the final 10 minutes, Danny Welbeck hung in the air at the back post to latch onto Enciso’s curled cross, but his looped header bounced wide of the back post.

Adingra has caused Villa problems all game and with five minutes on the clock, drew a foul out of Ezri Konsa in the penalty area leaving Rob Jones no choice but to point to the spot.

Pedro stepped up and saw his initial effort saved by a strong Olsen hand, but the Brazilian striker reacted quickly to nod the rebound home for all three points.

The win means Brighton move a point behind Bournemouth and two points behind West Ham, with the chance to move into the top if they win their game in hand.

As for Villa, they remain seven points ahead of Spurs, although Ange Postecolou’s side have a game in hand.

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