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Aston Villa were back at Villa Park for the second time inside 7 days and just like the first time, in front of a capacity crowd. The only difference, the opponents, Tomas Franks newly-promoted Brentford side.
Villa went into the game having had to make three changes following the win against Newcastle. Tyrone Mings has a rib injury while John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey missed out due to Covid-19 government protocol rules.
The first half was an end-to-end encounter but the away side took the lead through Ivan Toney with just seven minutes on the clock.
A corner was cleared to Sergi Canos who drilled into the box, a touch from Pontus Jansson helped the ball fall perfectly into the path of Toney who had time to pick his spot and fire home.
Villa were level just six minutes later. Danny ings and Anwar El Ghazi linked up down the left before finding Emi Buendia on the edge of the box. The Argentina international had time to take a couple of touches before dispatching the ball into the back of the net.
Villa head into the international break having picked up 4 points from a possible 9 and hopefully the time to allow some of the 9 players we currently have missing.
The Bad
- Despite investing in our squad this summer, we have taken such a beating on the injury table already this season. As I have already mentioned, we were missing 9 players for the game against Brentford. There is hope that Bertrand Traore, Leon Bailey, Morgan Sanson, John McGinn, Jacob Ramsey and Tyrone Mings could return after the break. The problem is we will be missing Emi Martinez and Buendia who will be in isolation. We still await the outcome of Ezri Konsa’s injury after going off against Brentford.
- For the second time in three games this season, I am talking about the match referee. I don’t believe either team would have been pleased by the performance of the man in the middle on Saturday. In the first half, he allowed too much to go while in the second half, it was like having a completely different official and failed to allow the game to flow. I am unsure what is going on at the moment but the Premier League need to sort out the officiating in the league now they finally seem to have got to grips with VAR.
The Good
- Taking a single point from a home game against a newly-promoted side should be seen as bad but given the circumstances, I think it should be seen as a positive. It is the kind of game we would have lost in previous seasons given the number of people missing, and some of them are vital to our side.
- Anwar El Ghazi seems to be stepping up this season and making a claim to manager Dean Smith that he wants to be starting more games. He was a constant threat and looked to get Villa forward at every opportunity.
- Danny Ings has been involved in three goals (2 goals and 1 assist) in his first three games in a Villa shirt. With Ollie Watkins cameo return, Villa will hope they can use the international break to give the two forwards more game time together.
What’s Next
Chelsea v Aston Villa
Saturday, 11th September – Kick-off: 17.30 (UK Time)
Villa will head to the capital to take on the European Champions, Chelsea. It will be a difficult game especially after Villa confirmed that both Martinez and Buendia will be ruled out due to government Covid-19 isolation rules.
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