Aston Villa are still seven points ahead of Tottenham in the race for Champions League qualification but Spurs have a game in hand despite their loss to Liverpool
As Brighton triumphed for the first time in almost two months, manager Roberto De Zerbi acknowledged that his squad took advantage of Aston Villa’s weariness.
Joao Pedro’s winner two minutes from time ended a dull Premier League match and doomed Villa to consecutive losses after their shocker against Olympiacos on Thursday night in the Europa Conference League.
Villa had only two days to prepare for today’s match at the Amex Stadium and was missing some important players who could have aided their cause. When Morgan Rogers hobbled off in the first half, Unai Emery was forced to make a substitution, which put them under even more strain.
Ultimately, the visitors managed just one shot on goal and lost an opportunity to guarantee Champions League play for the upcoming campaign following Tottenham’s loss at Liverpool.
De Zerbi knew his team could have won by a larger margin if not for Villa’s backup goalkeeper Robin Olsen’s outstanding performance.
“I am proud because we played a great game against one of the best teams in the Premier League,” the Italian stated in his pre-game team talk, alluding to his club’s 6-1 thumping at Villa Park in September.
They currently sit fourth in the standings, and it’s still quite difficult to play against Emery’s teams. We could have scored more goals; we were the better team and we deserved to win. To be honest, though, maybe they were just fatigued because Villa weren’t the real Villa today.
“Olsen was Villa’s finest player, and you can only imagine how many scoring opportunities we had. When you are performing poorly (at Bournemouth), you must exhibit the necessary attitude. We demonstrated that today, I believe. We didn’t play a particularly good football game, but we responded strongly and with pride.
Next up, Villa travels to Greece in an attempt to overcome a 4-2 deficit and advance to the UECL final.
