Aston Villa are only a point behind leaders Arsenal following a hard-fought 2-1 turnaround victory over Brentford in a dramatic match that featured a red card for both teams.
Following Ben Mee’s red card, late goals from Alex Moreno and Ollie Watkins secured the win after Keane Lewis-Potter had put Brentford in front on the stroke of half-time.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Man City
MCI
|
38 | +62 | 91 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
38 | +62 | 89 |
| 3 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
38 | +45 | 82 |
| 4 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
38 | +15 | 68 |
How the match unfolded
Both sides made changes, with Zanka, Mikkel Damsgaard and Mads Roerslev recalled for Brentford, while for Villa, Matty Cash, Moreno, Moussa Diaby and Jacob Ramsey were handed starts.
Villa started brightly, but the first major opportunity fell Brentford’s way, with Damsgaard’s shot from Vitaly Janelt’s cutback saved by Emiliano Martinez.
Moreno had Villa’s best chance of the early exchanges, but he couldn’t get enough power on his shot after bustling through the Brentford defence.
Villa were in the ascendancy and three minutes later they crafted another chance as Ramsey fired wide after linking up with Watkins.
But, in the 45th minute, Brentford took the lead. The Villa defence struggled to clear a corner and Lewis-Potter pounced on a bouncing ball to shoot past Martinez from 12 yards for his first Premier League goal.
TV Info - Broadcasters
The visitors began the second half on the front foot while Brentford remained a threat on the counter-attack.
After Watkins had a shot blocked, Brentford could have easily doubled their lead but for a superb last-ditch challenge by Moreno.
Then, in the 71st minute, the complexion of the match changed. Mee’s foul on substitute Leon Bailey resulted in the yellow card, but it was upgraded to a red card following a VAR review.
Just six minutes later, Villa capitalised on their numerical advantage to level, with Moreno heading in at the far post from Bailey’s cross.
On 85 minutes, the turnaround was complete. Boubacar Kamara’s flick-on from a corner was met by the head of former Brentford player Watkins for his ninth Premier League goal of the season.
Passions boiled over in the aftermath of Watkins’s goal against his former club. Neal Maupay and Martinez were shown yellow cards, while Kamara was sent off for violent conduct in the seventh minute of second-half added time.
But Villa held firm to earn their 25th Premier League victory in 2023, their most top-flight wins in a calendar year in their entire history.
A fifth defeat from their last six matches moves Brentford down to 12th on 19 points. The Bees have now dropped 17 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season, the most of any side and already their most in a single campaign in the competition.
Match officials
Referee: David Coote. Assistants: Tim Wood, Lee Betts. Fourth official: Simon Hooper. VAR: Craig Pawson. Assistant VAR: Lee Betts.
Brentford Report | Aston Villa Report
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 |
Crystal Palace
CRY
|
38 | -1 | 49 |
| 11 |
Brighton
BHA
|
38 | -7 | 48 |
| 12 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
38 | -13 | 48 |
| 13 |
Fulham
FUL
|
38 | -6 | 47 |
| 14 |
Wolves
WOL
|
38 | -15 | 46 |
| 15 |
Everton
EVE
|
38 | -11 | 40 |
Key stats
- Since Unai Emery’s first Premier League game in charge of Aston Villa in November 2022, only Erling Haaland (32) and Mohamed Salah (26, before today’s game) have scored more Premier League goals than Watkins (22).-
- Aston Villa have won three of their last six Premier League games when conceding the first goal (D2 L1), having lost six of their previous eight when shipping the first goal (D2).
- Mee was sent off for Brentford in this game, his first ever red card in his 263rd Premier League appearance. In all competitions, it was just his second ever red card, his other coming 10 years and 275 days ago for Burnley vs Blackburn in March 2013 – this was his 372nd appearance since that first red.
- Brentford’s Lewis-Potter scored his first ever Premier League goal in his 21st appearance in the competition. It was his first league goal since May 2022 for Hull City against Nottingham Forest.
