Villa moved up to seventh place on 48 points, one behind Chelsea who host Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday, while Brighton are one point behind in eighth.

With the title race and relegation battle all but decided, European qualification is still all to play for and Villa, playing their first league game since March 8, took a major step in their quest for more Champions League football.

Since their last league match, Villa have reached the Champions League quarterfinals and FA Cup semis, with Rashford netting twice in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Preston North End.

Both sides had chances in the opening half, Villa threatening when Ezri Konsa’s header was spilled by Bart Verbruggen but the Brighton keeper recovered to get to the ball before Rashford.

Yasin Ayari hit a Brighton free kick against the post and Villa will feel they should have had a penalty when Jack Hinshelwood, on a yellow card, looked to have fouled Jacob Ramsey, but a VAR check decided otherwise.

Rashford, on loan from Manchester United, opened the scoring six minutes after the break. Morgan Rogers played a long pass and Rashford kept his cool, taking one touch to control before shooting past Verbruggen from outside the area.

Brighton thought they had equalised, but Simon Adingra’s goal was ruled out for handball by Kaoru Mitoma in the build-up.

The hosts rarely threatened in a scrappier second half, and Rogers again played provider, sending a low cross into the area for substitute Marco Asensio, on loan from Paris St Germain, to slot home 12 minutes from time.

Deep into added time, another substitute, Donyell Malen, scored his first goal for the Villa.

Asensio slipped a through ball into the area and Malen fired into the far corner as Brighton lost after a five-game unbeaten league run, having exited the FA Cup on penalties to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.