A lot has been made of Aston Villa’s form in 2023, particularly the first 16 games of the Premier League campaign.
The media are starting to sit up and note the incredible work Unai Emery has done at the club since he arrived in October 2022.
The Aston Villa supporter inside me that has seen so many ups and downs during my lifetime keeps thinking we are closer to the magic 40 points. In fact, with today’s win over Brentford, we only need another 2 points to reach that magic marker.
Villa are on quite the journey at the moment but nothing is won in December those results can go a long way to helping you become successful at the business end of the season.
Today was far from pretty, in fact at times it was dam-right ugly but once the dust has settled, Aston Villa has picked up another three points at a ground we have struggled at in recent years.
Report: Brentford 1-2 Aston Villa
Emery was forced into changes following the suspensions of Douglas Luiz and Lucas Digne. Youri Tielemans was ruled out through injury while Leon Bailey was a doubt so was only named amongst the substitutes. Matty Cash, Jacob Ramsey and Àlex Moreno were all handed starts.
Villa’s away form so far this season has been of some concern but they went into this game following back-to-back wins over Manchester City and Arsenal last week so would have been full of confidence.
The confidence was clear to see as the visitors dominated early possession but it was the hosts that came close after eight minutes but Emiliano Martínez was equal to the effort from Mikkel Damsgaard.
Villa had chances of their own, firstly from Cash whose volley went wide of the post, followed by an effort from Ramsey but he miss-kicked his chance.
Emery’s side paid for not taking their chance when they found themselves behind against the run of play on the stroke of half-time. Keane Lewis-Potter was the first to react from a corner as Moreno was caught ball-watching. 1-0 to the Bees.
The visitors continued to dominate the game following the break without being able to break down a resilient Brentford side. Well, that was until a stupid and dangerous tackle from Ben Mee.
As Villa tried to clear a Brentford attack, substitute Leon Bailey beat Mee to the ball whos a high challenge, which could have been worse had the Jamaicans’ foot been planted, resulting in the defender seeing red, thanks to VAR. The referee was right on top of the challenge and still made the wrong call initially.
The hosts were left frustrated despite the decision being correct and it got worse moments later when Villa found themselves level.
Bailey was able to pick out Moreno at the back post and the Spaniard was able to head home for his first Premier League goal for Villa.
It felt like a matter of time before Villa would find the winner and 5 minutes from time it arrived. Boubacar Kamara cleverly knocked on a corner and found Ollie Watkins who headed into the back of the net.
The ex-Brentford striker celebrated by pointing to a fan in the home end which caused a mele and changed the rhythm of the game.
Tackles and stupidness crept into the game which eventually resulted in Kamara seeing red for the visitors.
Despite this, Villa were able to come away with all three points and temporarily go second in the Premier League.
What the managers said
Emery: “Of course, we are happy with the result, but I could be happier. I want to analyse collectively and individually with the players, but it is my spirit when we are playing and winning to try to respect everything.
“On the pitch, the players are excited, both teams had some nervous moments, and things like what we saw can happen. But I want to work on it, because the red card of Kamara and some individual behaviours I don’t want in my team.
“We need to always keep our minds in balance. My message before the matches is always the same – respect ourselves, respect the opponent, respect the referees.
“We lost a little bit of our minds today in some of those behaviours, I want to focus and react to control it.”
Thomas Frank: “We were on top of the game in many ways, then a red card changed the game. After that there were a lot of incidents I didn’t like, it’s not how the game should be played.
“Ollie is a very good player, and a top person with top integrity. I was surprised about the situation, I spoke to him and it was about a fan. He always shows class, so there’s no problem there.
“I don’t think it was a red card, we need consistency with VAR. We got a yellow with Frank Onyeka which I think is a red. Today, I watched it back, and it’s not a red. We need consistency.”
Up Next
Aston Villa will welcome Sheffield United to Villa Park on Friday evening in the Premier League.
Brentford will have a 10-day rest now and return to action on the 27th of December when they play hosts to Wolverhampton Wanderers.