Remi Garde: Villa wasted their chances
Boss Remi Garde felt Aston Villa paid the price for not taking their chances after a 1-0 defeat at Swansea pushed them closer to the Premier League trapdoor.
Federico Fernandez scored the only goal, after a mistake by Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan, condemning the visitors to a club record 21st league defeat of the season.
It was the hosts only shot on target of a game in which Villa were the better side for large periods, without ever seriously testing Swansea goalkeeper Lucasz Fabianski.
After Norwich's 1-0 win at Albion earlier in the afternoon, Garde's side are now 12 points adrift of safety at the bottom of the table, with just seven games remaining.
The manager said: "We controlled the game in the first half especially, had some good periods but without scoring a goal you know you will have a tough time in the second half.
"The disappointment for me is we did not score with the periods we had. They shot only once on goal and they scored.
"It is hard to take. We could have been more accurate going forward, in the opposition box.
"In football everything is going in two boxes, offensive and defensive. Today I think we played quite well in the middle of the pitch but not as well in the two boxes."
Fernandez headed into an empty net when Guzan came for and missed Gylfi Sigurdsson's free-kick, eight minutes into the second half.
Asked if he had spoken to his goalkeeper, Garde replied: "I am not criticising or assessing a player after a game, it is never the time to do it. I prefer to have a chat with the players before.
"He will go for the next international break away and will have the time to digest it and come back stronger."
