Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz was disappointed to have received a late yellow card during the Villans’ draw to Brentford, with his reaction to being suspended spotted at full-time.
It was a difficult Saturday for Aston Villa, who failed to record a crucial win against Brentford to remain in control of the race for fourth place.
The Villans had the three points in their hands at the start of the second half, as goals from Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers put Unai Emery’s side 2-0 up at home.
A rapid turnaround of events courtesy of the Bees saw Villa’s afternoon take a worrying turn, as the visitors scored three quick-fire goals, taking the lead as the hosts were caught napping.
Luckily, Watkins came to the rescue to ensure that Villa secured a point for their early efforts, expressing his frustration at the result after the game.
Aside from throwing away a comfortable lead at home, there was an even greater concern for Emery, as Douglas Luiz was booked in the 97th minute to confirm his suspension.
What Douglas Luiz did at full-time of Aston Villa’s 3-3 draw with Brentford
It was a needless foul for Luiz to give away in the 97th minute of play against Brentford, even more needless when reviewing the repercussions of collecting his 10th yellow card of the Premier League season.
The booking confirmed that the Brazilian will serve a two-match suspension, missing Villa’s crucial fixtures against Arsenal and Bournemouth.
While Villa fans and certainly Emery were frustrated at the midfielder’s actions to get booked so late, it seems that the 25-year-old felt the same, with journalist John Townley explaining what Luiz did at full-time yesterday, via BirminghamLive.
‘Fans knew what that meant and so did Luiz. He put his shirt over his face and was disconsolate after full-time.’
‘After referee Michael Salisbury blew up for full-time, the midfielder took his shirt off and put it over his head as he stormed straight down the tunnel.’
Douglas Luiz will be sorely missed in the next two Aston Villa games
If there was one game that Villa would not want to be without Luiz for, it would be the next fixture at the Emirates where the Villans come up against Arsenal.
Having taken just eight points from a possible 18 in their previous six Premier League fixtures, Villa’s hopes of finishing in the top four have taken a significant dent, something that will now be difficult to overcome with the Gunners up next.
The fixture will be particularly hard without Luiz, who has been instrumental in Emery’s midfield, with Boubacar Kamara out of action to add to the midfield pressures.
Earlier this week, the Brazilian was criticised for giving away needless fouls, after picking up an avoidable yellow card in the first half against Manchester City, seeing his action branded as “dangerous” by journalist Sam Tighe.
It’s unfortunate for Luiz, who is evidently regretful of his decision to dive into a challenge so late against Brentford, with his team now the ones that will suffer the repercussions.
Aston Villa star Ollie Watkins was the man of the moment yet again for the Villans against Brentford, however, Ian Wright has insisted that there is room for improvement when it comes to one area of the 28-year-old’s game.
Ollie Watkins was Aston Villa’s saviour against Brentford, scoring twice to ensure that the hosts bounced back to claim a vital point against his former club.
It was a frustrating day for the Villans, who blundered their 2-0 lead over the Bees, who fought their way back in the second half to make the score 3-2.
Watkins both opened the scoring and scored the equaliser to see the game end 3-3, a result that the striker was publicly unhappy about due to the lead that Unai Emery’s side threw away.
While the 28-year-old was instrumental in scoring twice to claim his 17th and 18th goals of the Premier League season, Ian Wright voiced his opinion on an area that Watkins could improve.
Ian Wright calls on Ollie Watkins to do ‘more’ after Aston Villa 3-3 Brentford
Speaking on BBC Match of the Day, the pundit was full of praise for Watkins’ work in the fixture and throughout the season although, made room to critique the talisman for one thing.
One thing that was picked up on by both Wright and fellow pundit, Dion Dublin, during Match of the Day’s analysis of the draw was Watkins’ absence at times in the box due to his desire to be a part of the build-up to play, leading to the Arsenal legend saying:
“It’s a fantastic goal, but, like you said, he has to stay in there.”
“I think he’s got enough quality around him, but he has to do more with those aspects of the game, holding up and linking but stay in the middle because he is dangerous there.”
The analysis showed the occasions during the game that Watkins’ presence was missed however, all was forgiven as he netted a brace to save his side once more.
Critique of Ollie Watkins is fair as he continues to near his peak
Like any top striker, criticism is part of the game, regardless of how many goals are scored.
It’s a testament to Watkins that such small areas of his playing style are picked on, with the margins between him being regarded as a reliable source of goals and an elite talisman, now very thin.
Having now recorded 28 goal contributions this season, no player has had a hand in more goals in the Premier League, telling of the £28m ace’s rise to prominence after impressing over the 2022/23 campaign as well.
With just six games remaining in the league, Watkins will be eyeing the record to become Villa’s highest-scoring player in the Premier League era, as well as becoming the first Villan to reach the 20-goal milestone.
Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins has been praised by BBC Match of the Day pundit Dion Dublin for what he did against Brentford, aside from his goals.
Aston Villa had a frustrating afternoon at Villa Park as Unai Emery’s side failed to secure a much-needed three points against Brentford on Saturday.
The Villans looked comfortable in the opening 50 minutes against the Bees, going 2-0 up at home thanks to goals from Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers however, the visitors had other plans.
In a quick fire that came early in the second half, Brentford turned the game around to make it 3-2, with Mathias Jorgensen, Bryan Mbuemo and Yoane Wissa stunning Emery’s side with an inspired comeback.
For all of Villa’s hard work in the first half, the hosts then had to fight to take a point from the game that was in their control, as Watkins was the saviour again to level the scoring at 3-3 just 10 minutes from time.
After the game, the £33m Villa talisman spoke strongly about his disappointment over the result, seeing him praised for his honesty.
Ollie Watkins praised for his words on Aston Villa draw with Brentford
Speaking to the media after the draw, Watkins expressed his frustrations regarding how his side threw away their position of being 2-0 up at home.
“We lacked that big team mentality where they kill games off, which is really disappointing.”
“Obviously, I’m not belittling my team, I’m part of it, but I feel like we need to somehow figure out when we are 2-0 up, how to just shut up shop and stop them from creating chances.”
The 28-year-old, who netted his 17th and 18th goal of the Premier League season against Brentford, was lauded by BBC Match of the Day pundit Dion Dublin for his comments on his team’s frailties.
“I think he’s brave to say that, he is their talisman and he is right. Everything seems to be going well for Villa at the moment. There are little things that they can tidy up, defensively their positional play is not great.”
Ollie Watkins’ frustrations after the Brentford draw are valid
Considering that Villa are fighting to ensure a top-four finish, it’s disheartening to see the squad’s dip in form of late at a time when every point counts.
With Spurs having two games in hand on the Villans in the race for fourth, it was critical that Emery’s side continued to maintain control, something that they failed to do against the Bees.
Watkins’ comments regarding the squad missing ‘big team mentality’ only show Villa’s progress as the players take accountability that a draw was not enough on Saturday afternoon, but equally highlighted the work that still needs to be done.
Recording only one win from their previous four in the Premier League is not what Emery wants to see from his side at this stage in the campaign, with even greater tests ahead that could derail their fourth-place ambitions.
All of the top current Aston Villa stories including, loanee’s mistake goes viral; Michael Brown shocked by Villa Park incident and Paul Merson wowed by gem.
Loanee’s viral mistake
While this season has been a blast for plenty of the Villa faithful, for one man it has been a year to forget.
Academy graduate Sebastian Revan has been on loan to Championship side Rotherham for the entire season.
However, on Friday he helped oversee the Miller’s relegation to League One with Revan making a big mistake in the crunch match.
You can watch the mistake Revan made for Rotherham here.
Michael Brown shocked by Aston Villa vs Brentford
Unai Emery looked to be overseeing another routine win at Villa Park on Saturday. The hosts were 2-0 up and cruising just moments after half-time.
However, 10 minutes of madness saw the game completely flip on its head to give Brentford a 3-2 lead.
While Villa managed to bring the scoreline back to 3-3, Final Score pundit Michael Brown was stunned by how Brentford produced such a quick comeback.
You can read what Brown said about Villa vs Brentford here.
Paul Merson wowed by Aston Villa gem
While the match at Villa Park may have been seen as dropped points for many fans, multiple first-teamers still performed.
The most prominent name was Ollie Watkins who once again found himself back among the goals, netting twice.
However, another name that is now getting more attention is Morgan Rogers. The youngster who signed from Middlesbrough in January netted Villa’s second with a tidy finish at the start of the second half.
Merson was full of praise for the attacker stating that it was a ‘brilliant finish’ from Rogers.
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