Brentford 0-1 Aston Villa: No love lost for Ollie Watkins who scores on his return to Brentford to seal vital win for Villa in push for Champions League
With the title race all but done and the relegation battle increasingly looking like a formality, the race for Europe is where the storylines are forming towards the latter stages of this Premier League campaign.
For Aston Villa, playing European football has taken its toll this season with Unai Emery’s side failing to win any of their previous seven games that came after a Champions League fixture.
Here at Brentford, they put an end to that dreadful statistic with an impressive victory that took them up to 7th and just two points behind Manchester City in fourth.
Emery’s side had to make do without Emi Martinez, who was out with a back injury, while their in-form man Marco Asensio was injured too and didn’t make the trip down to the capital either.
But it was a familiar face in Ollie Watkins, who provided the decisive moment with his 13th Premier League goal of the season at the place he once called home.
Emery made two changes from Villa’s midweek win in Brugge with Robin Olsen replacing Martinez for his first Premier League start of the season, while Jacob Ramsey was preferred to Marcus Rashford.
There was a lack of quality in the final third as both teams went into the break without a goal
Ollie Watkins scored four minutes after the restart on his return to the West London club
Marcus Rashford came on during the second half to put in another lively cameo in a Villa shirt
For Brentford, Frank made just the one change from their draw to Everton ten days ago, with skipper Christian Norgaard recovering from concussion and straight back in the starting eleven.
Brentford started on the front foot with Olsen perhaps fortunate not to get penalised for picking up a backpass from Axel Disasi but Villa grew into the game and had the best chance of the half, just after the quarter of an hour mark.
Youri Tielemans’ wonderful set-piece delivery picked out an unmarked Tyrone Mings, who made the perfect run but hit the ball straight into the hands of Mark Flecken.
Given that this ground has seen more Premier League goals than any other ground this season, it was all the more surprising that this clash was goalless at half-time.
Emery chose to send Matty Cash on at right wing in place of Leon Bailey at the break, in a bid to limit the impact of Brentford’s Keane Lewis-Potter and four minutes into the second half, the deadlock was broken from a lethal Villa counter.
Ramsey found Watkins down the left flank, who silenced the boos with a right-footed strike that took a slight deflection off Nathan Collins and beat Flecken.
For Watkins, it was a sixth goal in six games against the Bees since leaving west London for Birmingham in 2020.
A minute later, he turned provider as he set up Morgan Rogers, who fired past Flecken but Villa’s celebrations were cut short as VAR showed that Watkins was offside in the build up.
Morgan Rogers thought he scored Villa’s second but saw his goal ruled out by VAR for offside
Villa managed to hold off Brentford pressure to secure a vital win in the race for Europe
Unai Emery’s side are now just a point away from Manchester City who sit in fourth place
That decision seemed to light a spark in Brentford, who upped the ante and banged on the Villa door.
Axel Disasi roared with delight as he put in a vital block before Lewis-Potter’s effort hit the post, while Frank was furious when Cash and Disasi accidentally collided with Kevin Schade in the area but with the ball not in the field of play, there was no penalty for Brentford.
The home side had another appeal waved away when Disasi made contact with Schade in the box but VAR deemed it was minimal and not enough to overturn Jarred Gillett’s onfield decision.
In the latter stages, Olsen saved from Schade before the Villa keeper fumbled the ball in the box and after a flurry of activity, Norgaard fired wide.
With Brenford chasing a leveller, Villa should have finished the game off on the counter when Rogers found Watkins, who had all the time in the world but tamely chipped the ball straight at Flekken.
But it didn’t prove costly as Villa held on for their third win in a row and a crucial clean sheet that will no doubt boost their confidence ahead of the return leg against Club Brugge on Wednesday, where a place in the Champions League last eight awaits.
For Brentford, having won seven of their first eight Premier League home games this season, the Bees are now winless in their last seven at home. Hardly the kind of form if you want to be in the European places come May.
