Nikita Parris scored on her full Women’s Super League debut for Brighton as they came from behind to beat Aston Villa 4-2 at Broadfield Stadium.

Villa took the lead in the first half when captain Rachel Daly scored for a second league match in a row, but her early strike was cancelled out 75 seconds later by Parris.

Parris, making her first WSL start since her deadline day switch from Manchester United, turned provider on the stroke of half-time, setting up Pauline Bremer to give Brighton a half-time lead.

Villa levelled early into the second half via Daly, who converted from the penalty spot, but Brighton re-took the lead in the final 15 minutes via a Fran Kirby penalty.

Villa played the final quarter of an hour with 10 players after Paula Tomas was shown a straight red card for a foul on substitute Kiko Seike when giving away the penalty.

Substitute Michelle Agyemang, on loan from Arsenal, added a fourth for Brighton deep into stoppage time on the counter attack, her first goal for the club.

The hosts also ended the game with 10 players after Poppy Pattinson was shown a second yellow card late on.

Brighton’s second win in as many home league matches puts them second in the WSL standings, level on points with Chelsea and Manchester United, who have both played a match less.

Villa, under new manager Robert De Pauw, remain winless in three league matches.

Parris was handed a first league start after Japanese forward Seike, who marked her Seagulls debut with a hat-trick last month, was dropped by Brighton boss Dario Vidosic.

Minutes into the game, Parris came close to opening the scoring at the end of a free-kick for the hosts, but failed to test Villa’s Sabrina D'Angelo.

Brighton had shown early domination but showed fragility when passing out of defence. Daly got her first of the afternoon after Kirsty Hanson capitalised on a loose ball and drove into the penalty area, cutting back for Daly to convert from close range.

Some Villa fans will have still been celebrating Daly’s opener when Parris levelled in the first half. Straight from the kick-off, Brighton thundered forward and Maria Thorisdottir’s cross from the edge of the penalty area found Pattinson at the back post, whose cushioned pass picked out the run of Parris to finish for her first WSL goal since scoring against her new side for United in February.

Parris then turned provider just before half-time when passing through Villa’s defence to find the run of Bremer, whose controlled finished across goal was too much for D’Angelo to keep out.

Daly struck again to level the match early in the second half when Anna Patten latched on to a heavy touch from Guro Bergsvand before being brought down for a penalty. Daly made no mistake from 12 yards, sending Brighton’s Sophie Baggaley the wrong way.

Villa were reduced to 10 players with 15 minutes remaining. Attempting to stop Seike latching onto a cross into the penalty area, Villa left-back Tomas clattered into the Japanese forward and was shown a red card for the challenge.

Kirby, another of Brighton’s summer recruits, made no mistake from the spot to put Brighton ahead and to move third in the competition’s all-time top scorer list.

The Seagulls were reduced to 10 during stoppage time when Pattinson was shown a second yellow card.

Despite the red card, Brighton doubled their lead deep into stoppage time when 18-year-old Agyemang finished off her run on the counter with a brilliant finish for her first ever WSL goal.

During the match, Villa midfielder Jordan Nobbs become the Women's Super League's record appearance maker with her 193rd outing, over taking Chelsea's Sophie Ingle.

Just four competitive matches into his tenure as Brighton’s manager, Vidosic can have very little to complain about.

Already, he has three wins under his belt in all competitions and his only defeat as Brighton manager came six days ago against Manchester City on the road.

A big factor in Brighton’s impressive start to the campaign is their new recruits. Eight of their 14 goals have been scored by players signed this summer.

Parris, making her first league start days after her full debut in Wednesday’s League Cup win at Birmingham City, added a goal and assist for the Seagulls, while Kirby, who joined from Chelsea in the summer, already has three goals to her name.

Seike found herself settling for a place on the bench as Parris started, but when she came on, she won the penalty that gave Brighton the lead in the second half, which they ultimately turned into three points.

Agyemang, also making a brief cameo, got her first top-flight goal to condemn De Pauw’s Villa to another game without a win in the league.

Outside of the usual suspects challenging for the WSL title and European football this season, Brighton have staked an early claim to be among the strongest outsiders in the division and with Parris now adding to the bright signs made by Kirby, Seike and co, Brighton will have marked many teams’ cards.

They will want to make winning next Sunday’s trip to WSL debutants Crystal Palace a formality, with back-to-back home matches following against Manchester United and Leicester City a real chance to set the tone for their campaign.