Gerrard fumes as Bees punish wasteful Villa
BRENTFORD 2
ASTON VILLA 1
COVID bounced off Steven Gerrard without so much as tickling his throat. His first day back on the sidelines? That left him feeling a little more iffy. And no wonder, really. What an odd game, which his side led in the most delightful way through Danny Ings, and then as good as controlled for the 40 or so minutes after Yoane Wissa had levelled. Brentford weren’t going anywhere fast. They scrapped, they persevered, they gave chase — but that was it. A chase. A pursuit of a Villa side who had the game’s illuminating player, Emiliano Buendia, and the vast majority of its best moves. And then the gut punch, with Mads Roerslev taking a ball from Shandon Baptiste with six minutes to play. He shot first with his right foot and Emiliano Martinez saved, but the rebound went back the way it came. Roerslev then took aim with his left and squeezed it in. Gerrard looked ready to air his lunch; keeping a lid on his unhappiness would prove a more challenging task. ‘We got some results early on with grit and bodies on the line,’ said the Villa manager. ‘I didn’t see any of that in the second goal.’ In the scheme of things, the result changes little. A lower-midtable affair really. But Brentford got a stabilising win to extend their margin on the bottom three to 12 points. As for Villa, this was their fourth loss under Gerrard, albeit a first against a side outside the top three. Their performance was decent, and briefly sparkled, such was the quality of Buendia’s assist for Ings, which will be a boost given neither man has hit his best since joining. In the case of Buendia, Villa’s record signing, the hope must be that he replicates this far more often; in the case of the team, progress into the top half will rely on a better conversion of possession into chances. Doubtless they were hurt by the absence without warning of Ollie Watkins, their leading man. Covid was the common theory behind it, but Villa were vague, except to say he would be back for the next game, against Manchester United in the FA Cup on January 10. Gerrard said: ‘They had three good attacks and two goals — that’s not good enough from our point of view. We should never have lost.’ By contrast, Frank had the grin of a manager who knew he had stolen a bargain. ‘It was more of a draw and we maybe nicked a win. It showed top character, togetherness and attitude in abundance,’ he said. All true, including the honest recognition that Villa deserved more. They were stronger and led with a beauty. It was made with a rotation of passes between Jacob Ramsey, Buendia and Douglas Luiz before the latter played forward to Buendia. With his left foot he drew in Christian Norgaard and with his right he completed a pirouette to befuddle the defender. His pass was precise and Ings shot first-time across Alvaro Fernandez. Frank’s side suddenly levelled before the break. Roerslev, a classic discovery of unheralded talents for which Brentford are famous, surged up the right. He squared to Wissa, who finished well from 20 yards. Buendia, Matt Targett and Ings had minor chances in the second period. At the other end, Frank Onyeka hit a post, which for a time seemed to be as good as it would get for Brentford. It wasn’t.