Aston Villa were looking to bounce back from their midweek defeat to Manchester City at home to Brentford on Saturday, although things didn’t quite go as anticipated.
The Midlands side held a two-goal lead after goals from Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers, before the Bees roared back by scoring three goals in just seven minutes, taking full advantage of Villa’s poor defence.
Watkins scored his second with just ten minutes left to salvage a point, yet it gives Tottenham Hotspur a boost in the chase for a top four finish in the Premier League.
Ollie Watkins saved the day for Villa
Prior to the match, Watkins last scored in the top flight in the 3-2 win against Luton at the start of March, but his two goals certainly saved Villa from another defeat.
Along with his goals, the striker also succeeded with 100% of his dribble attempts, won seven of his ten contested duels and was fouled three times during the match, proving to be quite the menace against the Brentford defence.
Goals
2
Assists
0
Successful dribbles
1/1
Touches
29
Total duels won
7/10
In this sort of form, Watkins is a huge threat, yet he was let down by the Villa back four who struggled to remain composed, especially while leading by two goals.
Ezri Konsa in particular endured something of a horror show, and if it wasn’t for Watkins stealing a point towards the end of the game, his performance may have come in for harsher criticism.
Ezri Konsa’s game in numbers vs Brentford
Journalist Jacob Tanswell criticised the Villa defence during the match, saying: “Every Brentford goal has started and came down Villa's right side and between the two centre backs.”
Konsa was largely at fault during the Bees' sensational run when they scored three goals in a matter of minutes, while he was given a rating of just 3/10 by Birmingham World for his display.
Charlie Haffenden said Konsa ‘really struggled up against Reguilon’ during the match as his crosses proved to be a key component of their comeback.
The Englishman was playing at right-back due to Matty Cash’s injury and during the game, he managed to take 104 touches while completing 93% of his passes.
However, Konsa won just three of his six contested duels against Brentford, made just one tackle while losing the ball on ten occasions as he really struggled to cope when the Bees were on the attack.
There is no doubt his display cost Villa all three points and Unai Emery will be hoping Cash recovers sooner rather than later ahead of a crucial few weeks.
Thoughts will now turn towards the Europa Conference League, where there is less pressure to succeed, with Villa taking on French side Lille in the quarter-finals of the event.
The first leg is at Villa Park, which could allow the club to build up a lead to take over to France ahead of the second leg. Having not won a major trophy for 28 years, Emery will be targeting European success, especially with how strong a squad he has at his disposal.
If Konsa starts the match, he will have to vastly improve, there is no doubt about that.
