Ollie Watkins proved the difference as Aston Villa got back to winning ways with a 1-0 victory over Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium.
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The striker came back to haunt his former club in the Premier League, beating Mark Flekken at his near post to score the winner early in the second half.
Morgan Rogers thought he had doubled their lead just over a minute later, firing past the goalkeeper under pressure, only to be denied by the offside flag.
Brentford pushed for an equaliser, with Keane Lewis-Potter striking a post, but they could not stop Villa from completing a first Premier League double over them as they recovered from their 4-1 loss at Crystal Palace last time out.
Villa move up three places to seventh, just two points behind fourth-placed Manchester City, while Brentford are 12th on 38 points as their winless home run was extended to seven matches.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 |
Man City
MCI
|
28 | +15 | 47 |
| 5 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
27 | +16 | 46 |
| 6 |
Brighton
BHA
|
28 | +6 | 46 |
| 7 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
29 | -4 | 45 |
| 8 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
27 | +8 | 44 |
| 9 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
27 | +13 | 43 |
| 10 |
Fulham
FUL
|
28 | +3 | 42 |
| 11 |
Crystal Palace
CRY
|
28 | +3 | 39 |
| 12 |
Brentford
BRE
|
28 | +4 | 38 |
How the match unfolded
Brentford were unable to take advantage of Villa’s shaky start and allowed the visitors to grow into the game, Tyrone Mings poking a free-kick straight at Flekken.
Youri Tielemans cut open Brentford’s defence shortly after, bursting into the box, but Flekken parried his sliced effort. From the resulting corner, Ethan Pinnock almost scored an own goal, turning Tielemans’ nod-down on to the roof of the net.
Villa raced out of the blocks in the second half, Watkins netting against his former side for the sixth time after cutting inside and curling a shot through Flekken’s legs with the help of a slight deflection.
Under a minute later, the visitors thought they had doubled their lead. Watkins turned provider to pull it back for Rogers, who fired it past Flekken, but the goal was ruled out by the referee following a VAR review as the former had strayed offside.
Brentford pushed after that, with Lewis-Potter coming closest, but his low shot from the edge of the box thumped the foot of the near post.
Brentford’s home woes go on
Brentford had turned the Gtech into something of a fortress at the beginning of the season, winning seven of their first eight matches at home to start the campaign, but that is a long-distant memory now.
Thomas Frank would have pinpointed this as a perfect chance to change their fortunes and continue their outside push for a European place against a Villa side struggling on the road, but it was not to be.
Brentford's usual attacking style was nowhere to be found in the early stages on Saturday, with Lewis-Potter’s speculative long-range strike their only shot of note before the break as they were forced to sit back and defend.
It took going behind for Brentford to come to life in the second half, with Lewis-Potter, in particular, proving a threat from the wing. Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa eventually grew into the game, with the trio linking up into the build-up of Lewis-Potter hitting the woodwork.
Robin Olsen denied Kevin Schade at his near post late on, and though they pushed until the final whistle, Brentford could find no way through. There were positives for Frank, though he may be glad to go on the road again, with a trip to AFC Bournemouth up next.
Villa shut up shop
Villa had looked like they were slipping out of the race for a top-four finish, but considering the tight nature in the top half, they have kept themselves firmly in the fight with a win here.
Their recent Premier League form has caused some worry, and they have struggled in the competition after playing in the UEFA Champions League. They also had to do without Emiliano Martinez, who was missing through injury.
That form looked set to continue as Villa made a nervy start. Tielemans dug John McGinn out of a hole after the Scot lost the ball in the box early on before Mings made a double block, though Schade had strayed offside.
Unai Emery’s side finished the half strongly, and his half-time team talk lit a fire under the team, with Watkins taking just four minutes to take his first chance of the match.
They had to dig in defensively, with Axel Disasi throwing his body on the line as the Bees’ pressure increased. Watkins arguably should have made sure of the points late on, racing into a one-v-one with Flekken, but his tame chip was well held by the goalkeeper.
Villa face Club Brugge in the second leg of their Champions League tie in midweek, but are not in Premier League action again until 2 April when they travel to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Club reports
Brentford report | Villa report
What the managers said
Thomas Frank: “We created many dangerous situations without really having the margins. I’m really pleased with my team – especially in the second half. I feel we deserved more than we got. We played with great intensity, played forward and put them under pressure.”
Unai Emery: “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. After it, they were progressively dominating more and pushing us to defend in a low block, and we needed the goalkeeper. Robin Olsen was fantastic today and the back four did a great job."
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Key facts
Aston Villa have ended their seven-game winless run in the Premier League after playing in Europe in midweek (D3 L4), with this their first such victory since beating Wolves 3-1 back in September.
Brentford are the only side across the top four tiers of English football without a home clean sheet this season. They've conceded in each of their last 16 league games at the Brentford Gtech Community Stadium since a goalless draw with Fulham in May last year.
Brentford are one of just three sides to have two players (Mikkel Damsgaard and Bryan Mbeumo) create 50+ chances in the Premier League this season, alongside Liverpool (Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold) and Chelsea (Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez).
With an average age of 28 years and 217 days, Villa named their oldest starting XI for an away Premier League game since a 3-0 defeat at Arsenal in March 2012 under Alex McLeish.
