The festive period is the most hectic part of the footballing calendar in England, so it was perhaps unusual for Villa to head down to West London for only their third match in 22 days.
The Bees, on the other hand, had faced a gruelling run of fixtures after losing in the Carabao Cup to local rivals Chelsea, being beaten comfortably by Brighton on Boxing Day and pushing Manchester City all the way in a narrow midweek defeat.
After going down 3-1 to a Lukaku-inspired Chelsea last week, Aston Villa hoped to bounce back with a win against perennial party-poopers Brentford. The side from the capital have had the wood over their Brummie counterparts in recent encounters. In fact, Winston Churchill was midway through his second term in office the last time they were defeated by Villa.
No Ollie Homecoming
With both teams feeling the effects of Covid-19 and injuries, here is how the two sides lined up for the game at the Brentford Community Stadium:
For Villa, the headline team news saw former Brentford goal-grabber Ollie Watkins left out for an unspecified reason, whilst Tyrone Mings served his one-match suspension after accumulating five yellow cards. The away side were bolstered by the return to the eleven of John McGinn, who assumed the captaincy brief, and of Steven Gerrard to the touchline after he had undergone a period of self-isolation.
Brentford was bolstered by the return of midfield duo Sergi Canós and Christian Nørgaard, although tricky forward Bryan Mbuemo once again missed out.
Early Onslaught
From the off the away side looked fresher and sharper, as they set about dragging Brentford out of position in the swirling London wind.
Both McGinn and Danny Ings went close early on, with Jacob Ramsey pulling the strings in the midfield.
There are many occasions in recent memory when the boys in claret and blue have failed to capitalise on a magnificent start, so fans will have been delighted that the period of sustained early pressure was rewarded in the 16th minute.
After another fluid Villa move, Emi Buendía produced a delicate roulette to leave Nørgaard in a spin before weighting a perfect pass into the path of Ings. The England international forward opened up his body and fired a low finish across the goal and into the bottom corner.
Villa led through a picturesque goal and it was no less than they deserved. Ings has struggled for form and fitness since the arrival of Steven Gerrard from Rangers and has looked uncomfortable at times when paired with Watkins. With Villa’s top scorer out, it was extremely pleasing to see a man in desperate need of a goal step up the plate.
When a forward is out of form, pundits often talk of their need to score by any means, whether it be the shin, shoulder or backside. Such a classy first-time finish from Ings looked anything but a player short of confidence.
Villa’s Argentinian number 10 Buendía, whose quick-thinking and elegance had created the opener, was purring, as Villa overloaded relentlessly in the pockets between Brentford’s left and right-sided centre backs and central midfielders.
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Wasteful Visitors and Wizardry From Wissa
Despite such a fine first-half performance. Gerrard’s visiting side had failed to find the killer second goal which would surely have knocked the stuffing out of a plucky Brentford side.
As it was then, the Bees were still in the game and began to use possession better as they caused a problem or two of their own. With their first chance of note, Thomas Frank’s troops clawed themselves level just before the break.
A lapse of concentration from Matt Targett, as he followed Danish international Mathias Jensen, left young wing-back Mads Roerslev free down the right. Both Jacob Ramsey and Kortney Hause were caught ball watching as Yoane Wissa received the pass and finished impeccably. The French forward is becoming a crucial figure for the newly-promoted side, particularly with the fitness struggles of Mbuemo and the patchy form of Ivan Toney.
Despite dominating in almost every department, Villa headed down the tunnel at half-time level on the most important statistic after a moment of sloppiness which was punished ruthlessly.
A Familiar Tale
In a game that was beginning to take a familiar pattern for Villa fans, see Burnley away January 2021, after a scintillating performance Villa were losing their way somewhat. Whilst the travelling team still looked a threat after winning possession from pressing Brentford’s back three, errors were creeping into both sides’ game.
Douglas Luiz, who had been largely untroubled in the first 50 minutes or so, gave the ball away with greater regularity and started to become overrun in the middle of the park. For all the flak the injured Marvelous Nakamba has unfairly and gives away copped in his time at the club, it is clear that Villa are more defensively sound and cohesive with him in the anchor role in the middle, allowing Luiz to showcase his passing range and clever movement in a more advanced ‘eight’ role.
Credit must be given to the Bees though, who stepped up the intensity and their hard work and growing confidence was the catalyst for Villa’s mistakes. In the second half, as many Sunday League managers would attest for, one side seemed to want it slightly more than the other.
With 15 minutes left the warning signs were becoming ominous, as the hosts won possession back before Onyeka was denied by a tremendous Emi Martínez save.
Villa failed to capitalise on this reprieve and in the 83rd minute, the home side went ahead. Cash was beaten down the Brentford left, and Morgan Sanson and Luiz seemed to be positionally unsure as the ball fell in the box. Hause was first to react, but the left-footed defender made a hash of his clearance. Shandon Baptiste fed Roerslev who, despite yet another fantastic ‘Dibu’ stop, added to his earlier assist with a well-taken rebound finish.
After cruising for so long, a lackadaisical showing from Villa saw three points rapidly becoming zero.
Late Onslaught
Danny Ings still should have snatched what would have been a deserved point late on. He controlled an incisive McGinn pass and somehow flicked an effort towards goal. On loan goalkeeper Fernández made an excellent stop and Pontus Jansson scrambled it behind.
With seconds left of the game Trézéguet did so well to break clear from his marker on the right and drove into the box. As Villa players lined up in dangerous positions to fling themselves at any potential cross, the Egyptian winger opted to check back and fall to the turf. The contact from the defender was extremely light and directed towards his torso, yet Trézéguet embarrassingly threw himself to the ground clutching his face. No penalty, obviously, and a glorious chance wasted.
Whilst Villa were the better side, hassled Brentford with their pressing and created some glorious phases of passing play, the Bees dug deeper and capitalised on Villa’s errors. One wonders whether Villa will ever beat the side from West London, who despite injuries, illness, an unenviable run of fixtures and large swathes of relentless pressure forced upon them, came out on top.
A priceless three points for Thomas Frank and his side, but for Villa it’s a familiar story, with a collapse reminiscent of the Ashes exploits of Burns, Bairstow and co. down under. For John McGinn it’s a third loss in three as captain and the midfielder will now miss the next league match through suspension after picking up a needless yellow card in the dying embers. Villa will also be without Trézéguet and Traoré for a month as they represent their nations in the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon. Good luck lads, go and smash it!
Villa ‘Too Nice’?
Aside from the obvious second half Aston Villa deficiencies, one thing that will be beginning to grate on Steven Gerrard and his coaching team is the persistent fouling which seems to go unpunished in this division. For the eighth game in a row under the Liverpudlian, Villa’s opponents have committed more fouls than they have. In that time Villa have committed 67 fouls whilst receiving a whopping 115 from their opponents. Unsurprisingly Gerrard’s charges have received 15 yellow cards to 14 from their opponents.
Midfielder Christian Nørgaard has developed an unfavourable reputation as he sits second for most fouls in the league. On Sunday, the Danish midfielder somehow evaded any real punishment despite persistent fouling. The Brentford number six kicked lumps out of the excellent Buendía, and cynically pulled the Argentian’s arm under his body as he fell in an impressive display of his MMA prowess. The move could easily have broken the arm, or dislocated the shoulder of Villa’s best player on the afternoon, and it’s hard to justify that it was not deliberate.
Perhaps Villa are not, as pundits like to call it, ‘cute’ enough and Brentford were certainly more hungry and ruthless to boot in the second half.
Not All Doom and Gloom
There are of course positives to take too. Danny Ings scored a trademark goal which could see him kick on and go on a scoring run, whilst Buendía will be worth every penny of his record-breaking transfer fee (and some) if he can find this level of performance consistently.
Once the experience of Ashley Young, the explosive wing-play of Leon Bailey, the leadership of Tyrone Mings and the link-up play and finishing of Ollie Watkins are reintegrated into the line-up, the results will surely follow. With the FA Cup third round next week, fans will dream of a cup run in the famous old tournament if Manchester United can be defeated at Old Trafford.
And as for the transfer window, well as the gaffer himself says, there’s seemingly a deal or two in the pipeline which fans should “be excited” about.
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