Classy Grealish can’t steer Villa to victory
Jack shines but his side draw blank despite 27 shots
DEAN SMITH paid tribute to Jack Grealish after the Aston Villa captain produced an outstanding performance against Burnley at the end of a difficult week.
The England midfielder was fined £ 82,000 and banned from driving for nine months on Tuesday, for separate incidents in March and October. But Grealish was again his side’s best player, creating a host of chances that Villa failed to convert.
Anwar El Ghazi and Kortney Hause hit the woodwork in the first half as the home side had 27 shots without scoring, the highest total without a goal since Crystal Palace hit 31 in a 0-0 draw with Cardiff two years ago.
Villa boss Smith said: ‘ Jack’s performances are what we are accustomed to at Aston Villa. There’s been a lot made out of the week he has had.
‘He was in court for two driving offences, nothing more, nothing less. He handled it as I expected him to, with aplomb.’
The Clarets rode their luck but followed up their 1-0 win at Arsenal with this result to lift them out of the bottom three.
They played with the determination that has kept them in the top flight since 2015 and more of these performances will have them eyeing at least one more. They have now lost only one of their last six matches, collecting nine points along the way.
‘We’ve had to work hard on our defensive performances and we had a big result at Arsenal but doing the basics well has always been important to us and our commitment was first-class to get a clean sheet,’ said manager Sean Dyche.
Villa will kick themselves for thehe chances they wasted. El Ghazi squandered several good openings, and Villa have not won at home since beating Liverpool 7-2 in October.
‘We’ll go home disappointed not to win because we had enough chances to win two games,’ said Smith. ‘It was a disappointing result butbu a pleasing performance and we feel we have a squad who can compete at the top end this season.’ Without the suspended Matty Cash and Douglas Luiz, Smith must have wondered whether it would be Villa’s night when El Ghazi and Hause came so close. In the 37th minute, Grealish was hacked by Ben Mee — who somehow avoided a booking — 25 yards out and Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope tipped El Ghazi’s free-kick on to the bar.
Then Hause — the replacement for centre back Ezri Konsa, who missed out with illness — should have done better than head against the bar when unmarked six yards out after John McGinn’s corner had flicked off Ashley Westwood into his path. Earlier, Matt Lowton headed off the line when Ahmed Elmohamady’s shot had deflected off Ollie Watkins and looped towards goal.
Burnley tested Emiliano Martinez only once before the break, his flying save keeping out Chris Wood’s header, and Villa created the better chances in the early part of the second half.
Grealish caught Josh Brownhill dawdling and charged forward, releasing Bertrand Traore to his right. The former Chelsea winger should have shot but tried to pick out Watkins, which allowed James Tarkowski to intercept.
Then El Ghazi, who looked lively all night, saw one curling shot drop just wide before another clipped Lowton and ended up on the roof of the net.
The forward should have given Villa the lead in the 66th minute, however. Another Grealish burst created space for El Ghazi on the angle, yet the finish was poor and gave Pope a simple save.
Tarkowski was having an outstanding game and he rescued his side again in the 78th minute with another perfectly timed block to stop Traore’s shot at source.
Increasingly frustrated, Villa resorted to unorthodox means. Watkins was off the field receiving treatment after Mee’s high boot caught him in the face when he suddenly raced back on to collect the ball as it was played towards him on the touchline.
It came to nothing and the £33million striker was booked for his trouble. Still Villa pushed. Elmohamady found Tyrone Mings, who put a free header wide, and Grealish drove only to hammer over. The skipper buried his face in the turf in frustration. It had not been Villa’s night.