Brentford 0-1 Aston Villa

by Layth Yousif

at Brentford Community Stadium

OLLIE WATKINS scored his 13th Premier League goal of the season to seal a hard-fought victory and cap a good week for the west Midlanders.

Watkins’s 49th minute strike was the difference between the two sides, meaning the England striker has now scored six goals across seven Premier League appearances against his former team.

Keen to finish in the top four for two years in a row, Unai Emery’s Villa came into the match aiming for a second win this week on the back of an excellent Champions League victory over Club Brugge at the Jan Breydel Stadium.

While victory on Saturday evening in front of 17,171 saw them climb to seventh spot, a mere two points off the misfiring Manchester City in fourth place.

In reality, fifth spot should be enough for an extra place in the top table of European football given England’s excellent co-efficient.

There was extra joy to be had from those of the claret and blue persuasion at this compact ground, squeezed between the A4 flyover and the banks of the Thames at Kew Bridge, as victory ended their seven-game win less run in the league, after playing in Europe in midweek — with Saturday’s redoubtable win their first such victory since beating Wolves 3-1 back in September.

Speaking after the match, Emery said: “I’m very proud of the players.

“It was very important to compete today like we did in Bruges and try to get those three points, knowing the difficulties we were facing.

“We did a fantastic job in the first half. We dominated, created chances and played wishing to win. We didn’t concede a lot to them and in the second half we scored one goal and then a second goal, but VAR refused it.”

Christian Norgaard returned from injury to start for Thomas Frank’s side, who started the match in 11th place, after the midfielder missed their 1-1 draw with Everton due to concussion.

Yehor Yarmolyuk dropped to the bench, while Mathias Jensen was back in the squad after missing the last two matches. Fabio Carvalho was not in the squad having been on the bench against Everton.

Villa’s World Cup winner Emi Martinez and PSG loanee Marco Asensio were both absent from Emery’s squad, while Robin Olsen replaced the Argentine keeper between the sticks to keep a creditable clean sheet.

Jacob Ramsey started on the left in place of Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford, who was on the bench for the Villains.

In a lively opening, Brentford nearly went ahead in the seventh minute after a protracted goalmouth scramble that saw Mikkel Damsgaard beat the Villa defence to find Vitaly Janelt, but his attempted pass to Yoane Wissa was cut out by Tyrone Mings.

At the genesis of the move, referee Jarred Gillett invited controversy when overruling the initial offside flag by his assistant referee relating to Janelt’s position when Damsgaard played his through ball.

It was only after the goalmouth scramble had ended that the Australian official then opted to call offside.

One can only imagine Villa’s chagrin, if a goal had come, with the visitors having every right to underline the fact that Mings had slowed momentarily after the flag was initially raised.

No matter. Villa swept upfield, with Nathan Collins’s blocking header diverting Jacob Ramsey’s curler from beating from Bees keeper Mark Flekken — and instead flicking it narrowly past his far post and away for a corner that came to nothing.

On 16 minutes of a fast-paced encounter, the cultured Youri Tielemans played the ball into a crowded Bees box, which saw Mings unmarked on the edge of the area, but the tall Villa centre-back was unable to make sufficient contact to test Flekken.

Just before the half hour mark, Keane Lewis-Potter drilled in a low shot that Villa keeper Robin Olsen was equal to.

The sun set on a gloriously sunny early spring afternoon at this well-appointed stadium in west London, uniquely sandwiched between the A4 flyover and the Thames on Kew Bridge.

Buoyed by their relentlessly vociferous travelling support, Tielemans headed across goal only for Bees number five Ethan Pinnock to guide the ball over Flekken’s bar on 32 minutes.

Four minutes after the interval, Villa finally made their dominance count when the 29-year-old Watkins fired past Flekken, with the merest hint of a deflection off Collins to make it 1-0 to Emery’s side.

Worse appeared to come for Frank’s side when Villa broke forward after the restart, which saw Morgan Rogers sweep home a Watkins pass to cue pandemonium in the away end. That was until VAR adjudged Watkins to be marginally offside at the start of the move.

Frank’s side gained impetus from the disallowed goal, and remained a threat at only 1-0 down. Not least when Lewis-Potter thudded the post on 71 minutes as the Bees sought an equaliser.

Brentford thought they should have been awarded a penalty when Axel Disasi got in a tangle with Kevin Schade in the box.

But referee Gillett refused to award a spot-kick, safe in the knowledge that VAR would not overturn it as Disasi’s push on the Bees attacker would not have been deemed sufficient enough contact.

Stung, Schade tested Olsen with a drive at the near post moments later, before Norgaard’s shot flew narrowly past the post.

There was still time for Watkins to race forward, only to lift the ball tamely into Flekken’s hands rather than over the Dutch keeper’s head.

In the final analysis the miss was immaterial as Villa secured a vital three points to record their first league double over Brentford since 1947 and drop Frank’s team from 11th to 12th place.

“We’re going to play in the Champions League and then it’s the break,” said Emery.

Next stop, their round of 16 second leg against Brugge, could see them paired against Liverpool in Champions League blockbuster quarter-final after the international break, as Villa’s impressive season rolls on.