2 FOOTBALL Luiz takes sting out of Bees to rescue his boss
DOUGLAS LUIZ dug Unai Emery out of a hole after the Aston Villa boss looked set to pay for delaying a triple second-half substitution.
The Spaniard was furious with the way his side started after the break.
But he left Calum Chambers, Lucas
Digne and Bertrand Traore on the touchline a further four minutes as he will not put players on when defending set pieces.
In that time Bryan Mbeumo and Ivan Toney (below) both went close for Brentford before the latter fired with his 19th league goal of the season. Two of the players hooked, Ashley Young and Alex Moreno, were culpable for the goal.
But the Bees were denied a first win in six matches when Luiz grabbed an 87th-minute leveller.
Emery said: “Today we did not play good, but it is a very good point.
“Brentford are a very competitive team and are very hard to beat at home.
“To draw after they scored first makes it more difficult during 90 minutes.
“We are not happy with how we played but to draw is very important.”
Villa lost keeper Emi Martinez to a stomach bug at half-time, after he played a big part in keeping Brentford at bay in the first half.
He produced alert saves to twice deny Toney, while Moreno
Brentford 1 A Villa 1
slid in to deny
Mbeumo a chance.
Villa offered little in terms of goal threat after Emiliano Buendia forced David Raya into a save early on.
Little changed after the break.
Kevin Schade missed an open goal after Martinez’s replacement Robin Olsen had fumbled the German’s header.
It was one of many let-offs that Villa punished with one of their only two big chances of the game.
Jacob Ramsey scooped the first over the bar, but Luiz fired high into the net when Buendia picked him out. That brought a frustrated reaction from Bees boss Thomas Frank, who had seen his side restrict former player Ollie Watkins to one late chance.
Frank said: “When you sit here and don’t win you try to control the emotions.
“The cool calm part of me thinks it is close to a complete performance but for one blip.
“I am feeling more for the players. Villa deserve a lot of praise but the way we dominated them was incredible.”
BRENTFORD: Raya 8; Hickey 7, Pinnock 7, Mee 7, Henry 7; Jensen 6 (Dasilva
90), Norgaard 6 (Onyeka (46) 6), Janelt 7 (Damsgaard 77); Mbeumo 8, Toney 7, Schade 7 (Wissa 77).
ASTON VILLA: Martinez 7 (Olsen (46) 6); Young 5 (Chambers (66) 6), Konsa 6, Mings 7, Moreno 5 (Digne (66) 6); Dendoncker 6 (Traore (66) 6), Luiz 7, Mcginn 7; Buendia 7, Ramsey 7,
Watkins 6.
MAN OF THE MATCH: BRYAN MBEUMO – Created goal other big chances.
REF: M Salisbury 17,098