Although Unai Emery acknowledged that Aston Villa didn’t obtain the desired outcome at Bournemouth, he saw the 2-2 draw as a point earned rather than two lost.
After 14 games and 29 points gained, Villa’s one-point victory over Birmingham on the south coast guarantees that they have equaled their joint-best start to a Premier League season. In the match, Bournemouth twice seized the lead, but Villa hit back through goals from Leon Bailey in the first half and Ollie Watkins in the ninetieth.
Watkins suffered an injury on Wednesday, just before the team’s Europa Conference League match against Legia Warsaw at Villa Park, so he was doubtful to play at the Vitality Stadium. His magnificent header made sure Villa maintained some momentum going into a crucial week.
Point accepted by Emery
League leaders Arsenal visit the second city on Saturday, while league winners Manchester City visit Villa Park on Wednesday. Emery’s team has won all 13 of their prior league games played in front of home supporters, and they have a perfect home record this season.
It is obvious that Villa needs to get better when playing away from home if they hope to make the playoffs this year. Even though Emery’s team lost to Bournemouth, he was happy to carry a point into the match versus City in a few days.
It’s a valid point, he remarked. “We knew it would be challenging to win this time. When you are losing a match, the point is beneficial to us.
We intend to make use of this point. Although it was not easy, we preferred to control the game; they had plenty of opportunities, and our goalie was excellent.”
We made a mistake early on, but we responded nicely, and VAR rejected a goal. We responded once more to trailing, and although this was a difficult point to earn in such a difficult game, we can see that it is a plus.
“We faced challenges at times, but we persevered.” We made an effort to get possession of the ball and score. While not ideal, this point is also not the worst.
Playing Manchester City [on Wednesday] is never easy; they are the best team led by the best coach. Pep Guardiola is unlike any other coach.
WATKINS ARE ON A “HARD” SCHEDULE
Throughout the game, Emi Martinez made five saves to keep his team in it against Bournemouth. In both halves, he stopped Domini Solanke from close range.
With his first and only opportunity of the ninety minutes, Watkins—another one of Villa’s essential players—was able to demonstrate his quality thanks to his outstanding performance.
After the game, I felt like I scored one of my best headers,” Watkins said. We could have ended it early and we had plenty of opportunities.
Although it demonstrates our tenacity, we are not playing well when we are away from home. It will benefit us if we can resolve that. We are playing well and want to win every game.
“We see ourselves as opponents to everyone.” Although I’m pleased with my form, I’m hard on myself because I want to improve. It was crucial that we left with something,” he continued. Although we didn’t produce much in the first half when it was wide open, we also didn’t capitalise on it in the second half.
Although it’s difficult to play every few days, that is what we are here to do. Our away performance hasn’t been up to par, and we are aware of it.
“Waiting for a VAR ruling like that is terrible; some rule against you and some in your favour. It doesn’t really appeal to me.
SOLANKE DEPRESSED BY DRAW
Under Andoni Iraola, Bournemouth has unquestionably turned the corner. The team has now defeated Villa and Newcastle for four points, putting them in contention for the Champions League. Before playing Villa, they also defeated Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. After the draw with Villa, Solanke remarked, “It feels like a loss conceding so late but they are a top side playing their best football in years.” “Our goal is to make this stadium a challenging site to visit and
We are on a good run of form and have two more games this week. We have a good feeling behind us.
“Their goalkeeper has pulled off some fine saves and I could have had more. We are confident right now and feel we can win any game.”
AUSTIN MacPHEE FRUSTRATION
Villa and Bournemouth each won seven corners on Sunday, yet neither side caused problems from set pieces. Emery’s side had several chances to take advantage from Bournemouth poor set-piece record too, but crosses from wide areas couldn’t unlock the hosts.
Prior to this past weekend, including penalties, Bournemouth had the lowest number of goals scored (one) and highest number of goals conceded (ten) in the Premier League this season from set pieces. Following two goals by Douglas Luiz in victories against Tottenham and Legia Warsaw, Villa has had success from dead ball situations in the last several weeks.
Luiz, positioned in a familiar spot and with John McGinn deliberately offside, saw one of his crosses go unnoticed by the Bournemouth defence. Due to Luiz and Lucas Digne’s risky positioning over a free kick in the first half, Villa had a chance to grab the lead in extra time.
MacPhee was annoyed at what he saw after Luiz struck the wall and Digne missed the rebound badly. Digne was spotted yelling at MacPhee as he returned to his left-back position, but Emery stepped in and ordered composure.
With MacPhee, who has been a fantastic addition to the club’s backroom staff since he came back in 2021, Villa works hard on their set pieces.
Once more, KONSA GLOWS
Most of Bournemouth’s attacks targeted their left flank, where Konsa was positioned to neutralise the threat. Instead of Matty Cash, Konsa played right-back, and he was up to the task.
Remarkably, Konsa prevailed in all eleven of his ground duels and all four of his aerial duels. In addition, he recorded a 100% long ball success rate and finished 100% of the dribbles he attempted.
He completed nine defensive plays, two clearings, five recoveries, and an 83 percent passing accuracy. Late in first-half added time, the 25-year-old produced an incredible tackle to deny Justin Kluivert a shot against Martinez as the Cherries forward went one-on-one.
