Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins had a standout performance against his former club Brentford in the Premier League match on Saturday. His strike in the 49th minute was a deflected shot that went past Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken, giving Villa a crucial lead.
Despite being warmly greeted with jeers from the home crowd, Watkins nearly added a second goal shortly after. He provided an assist to Morgan Rogers. However, the goal was disallowed due to margin offside decision.
Following the disallowed goal, Brentford gained momentum and came close to equalizing. Keane Lewis-Potter’s effort hit the post, and moments later, Axel Disasi’s slip led to a challenge on Kevin Schade inside the penalty area. Despite the calls for a penalty from both Lewis-Potter and Brentford’s head coach Thomas Frank, referee Jarred Gillett ruled against it.
Frank stated, “Disasi’s clearly taken him [Schade] out,” while Lewis-Potter insisted it was “definitely a penalty.” Villa’s manager Unai Emery, however, disagreed, asserting that there was no foul.
Aston Villa held on against late pressure to secure a 1-0 win over Brentford. This is their second victory in eight league matches. This win puts Villa in seventh place with 45 points from 29 games, just two points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.
This victory follows a 3-1 win at Club Brugge, marking only the second time Villa has won after playing a Champions League match this season. Manager Unai Emery praised goalkeeper Robin Olsen, who made his first league start of the season due to Emiliano Martínez’s injury.
Brentford has not won in seven home games and sits in 12th place with 38 points from 28 matches. Villa were the stronger team in the first half, but they created some early issues for themselves. Captain John McGinn shot was saved by Youri Tielemans after losing the ball in the box to Yoane Wissa.
Tyrone Mings missed Villa’s best chance before halftime. He failed to connect properly with the shot that went straight to Flekken after receiving a free kick from Tielemans. Villa took the lead in the 49th minute when Watkins’ deflected shot went past Flekken for his sixth goal against Brentford. They nearly doubled their lead just after, but a goal from Morgan Rogers was disallowed.
Brentford pushed for an equalizer but had a second penalty shout denied. However, they struggled to create clear chances, hurting their slim hopes of qualifying for Europe next season. Frank expressed disappointment, stating, “I think we performed more than enough to get more of the game than we did.”
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