Burnley 3 Aston Villa 2 - Report
Should Villa miss out on European football by a slender margin come the end of the season they may well reflect on their results against Burnley.
Two meetings with the Clarets in the space of barely a month have produced just a solitary point for Dean Smith’s team, despite dominating almost the entirety of both.
If December’s 0-0 draw at Villa Park, when the hosts registered 26 shots on goal without making the breakthrough, was a bitter pill to swallow, this defeat at Turf Moor was truly sickening.
Villa led twice, they managed more than double the shots on target of their opponents, they hit the bar and forced home keeper Nick Pope into several fine saves.
But somehow they lost, conceding three times in 27 second half minutes to a Burnley team who had netted just five goals in eight previous home matches this season.
Ben Mee headed home from a corner to cancel out Ollie Watkins’ first-half opener and then, after the brilliant Jack Grealish had put Villa back in front, two goals in four minutes from Dwight McNeil and Chris Wood delivered the ultimate sucker punch.
For Villa this result delivered a lesson which must be heeded if they are to take the next step in their progression to genuine top six contenders. It is all very well getting plaudits for your play but ultimately, you have to remember to take the points as well.
Villa’s first attempt came inside three minutes, Ezri Konsa throwing his hands up in frustration after heading a Ross Barkley corner over the bar.
Watkins had already fired a warning shot shortly before the opener, shooting too close to Pope after being played in by Grealish.
Villa’s skipper then helped his team make the breakthrough, staying patient in possession before feeding the run of Targett on the left, the latter whipping in a low cross which Watkins, having got ahead of Mee, steered into the far corner for his second goal in a week and his eighth in the Premier League this season.
Some of the visitors attacking play from that point was a joy to watch but a further goal eluded them before the break.
Barkley came closest to doubling the lead when he sent a first-time, left-footed volley looping off the bar after Pope had denied Watkins one-on-one, the striker having latched on to a McGinn through ball.
Pope found his goal siege as the clock ticked down toward half-time. Immediately after Traore saw a shot blocked by Mee after Villa recycled the ball quickly from a corner, the Clarets keeper spread himself to deny Tyrone Mings on the follow-up.
His final save of the opening period was from Targett, the full-back opting to shoot at goal rather than attempt to find Watkins in the middle.
Seven minutes into the half Burnley drew level from nowhere, Mee taking advantage of slack maring to rise unmarked and head home Ashley Westwood’s corner to level the scores.
Looking to restore the lead, Grealish took matters into his own hands just past the hour mark, collecting a throw out from Villa keeper Emi Martinez and embarking on a blistering 70-yard run which ended with him firing a low shot too close to Pope, who saved again.
Martinez had done nothing at that point but pick the ball out of the net following Mee’s equaliser. But when needed he was there for Villa, saving Wood’s shot as Burnley threatened to take the lead as the half approached the midway point.
Instead it was Villa who went back ahead, Grealish grabbing his sixth league goal of the season. The skipper found Douglas Luiz on the right-hand side of the box and then raced forward to meet the Brazilian’s low cross and steer a first-time finish into the net.
Yet again the lead was lost. With 15 minutes remaining, McNeil’s attempted cross from the left evaded everyone before creeping inside the far post.
Then four minutes later the home side were ahead, Wood rising to steer McNeil’s cross in off the same post. Villa pushed hard for a leveller but this was simply not their night.
Burnley (4-4-2): Pope, Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Pieters, McNeil, Westwood, Brownhill (Cork HT), Brady (Gudmundsson 60), Wood, Rodriguez Subs not used: Long, Dunne, Bardsley, Stephens, Vydra, Benson, Peacock-Farrell (gk).
Villa (4-2-3-1): Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett, McGinn, Luiz (Davis 90), Traore (El Ghazi 83), Barkley (Trezeguet 83), Grealish, Watkins Subs not used: Engels, Elmohamady, Taylor, Nakamba, Ramsey, Heaton (gk).
