Villa had the brighter start in an open game as they passed through Brighton with fluidity and looked to carve out opportunities in the Brighton box.
Lehmann spurned an excellent chance to put the visitors in front when she skewed an excellent Kirsty Hanson delivery wide from close range.
Daly and Kenza Dali combined to good effect going forward and Daly narrowly missed the target when she sent a low drive just wide of the near post.
Brighton showed moments of promise on the counter-attack and came close when Madison Haley sent a looping effort over the bar in the first half.
But it was Villa who showed the most promise and they were denied the chance to break the deadlock before half-time when a long-range Hanson strike rattled the crossbar.
Brighton’s Lee Geum-min caused a moment of worry for Villa goalkeeper Anna Leat when her strike from distance deflected off defender Anna Patten but Danielle Turner managed to clear the danger.
The Seagulls were unable to produce the same quality of chances as the hosts and lacked the finishing touch in the final third.
Villa dominated much of the game and saw out victory without much discomfort after Lehmann scored the game’s only goal.
