Ollie Watkins’ 49th minute winner fired Aston Villa up to seventh in the Premier League with a 1-0 win at Brentford.
Watkins struck a low strike on a 49th minute counter-attack into the far bottom-right corner to settle a closely-fought contest.
The forward nearly turned assistant a minute later as he teed up Morgan Rogers to net their second goal, which was disallowed due to Watkins having been offside in the build-up according to Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
Villa now sit seventh in the Premier League table and two points off the final top-four spot, whilst Brentford remain 12th after Crystal Palace beat Ipswich earlier in the day to move above their London rivals.
Results earlier in the day meant that Brentford stood a chance of thrusting themselves into the race for Europe but Mark Flekken made a crucial 16th minute save, which saw him deny Tyrone Mings’ low shot towards the bottom-right corner from Youri Tielemans’ free-kick.
Villa were the more dominant team throughout the first half and Tielemans was the next to try and break the deadlock in a cagey contest, having won the ball in the 33rd minute and broke forward but Flekken saved his shot.
Brentford struggled to create much quality before half-time until Bryan Mbeumo played Yoane Wissa through in the 35th minute, although the DR Congo forward was offside as he casually rolled the ball past a wrong-footed outcoming Robin Olsen into the net.
Villa eventually got their reward in a 49th minute counter-attack which found Ramsey to unleash Watkins up the left against his former team, with the England forward free to cut in from the left and rifle low into the far-right corner to put his current team in front – having scored the winner on their most recent visit in December 2023.
Villa’s luck almost doubled a minute later as Watkins was fed a pass from the left with his cutback pass smashed in by Morgan Rogers, yet VAR declared Watkins offside as he met the initial pass up the left flank and disallowed Rogers’ goal.
That slice of fortunes sparked Brentford into life as Wissa nodded over the bar in the 54th minute, before Kevin Schade was brought down by a clash of shoulders with Matty Cash as the pair were quickly collected by a sloppy tackle from Axel Disasi.
Brentford quickly appealed for a penalty but VAR denied their request with Disasi’s foul considered accidental rather than deliberate.
Further frustrations with VAR followed in the 78th minute as Schade was shoved to ground by Disasi but no penalty was given, just seven minutes after Keane-Lewis Potter had hit the left post in a positive spell for the Bees.
Villa soon wasted two chances to kill the game off as Watkins fired over the bar then wide of the right corner barely minutes later,
Disasi meanwhile produced one of his best performances as he constantly frustrated Brentford’s attacks with numerous key defensive blocks, whilst Robin Olsen blocked Schade’s 82nd-minute curled shot.
Watkins wasted a further chance to wrap up the game in the 87th minute with a quick counter-attack but his chipped shot wasn’t high enough to beat Flekken’s hands.
Villa ultimately clung on for their first away win in London since they won 3-1 at Fulham in mid-October 2024, with the victory now having put them just two points off the top-four.
Disasi spoke to Sky Sports post-match as Villa ended their seven-game winless streak post Champions League games since a 3-1 win over Wolves in September, with the Frenchman happy to have got the win but urged his teammates to push for more consistency.
“After playing in the Champions League it’s hard to win, but I think today we deserved the three points. In the first half we played very well. At the beginning of the second half we scored, and then we saw the character of the team.
“We need to be more consistent. After the game we lost against Palace [in Villa’s last league game], we were hungry and wanted to correct it. The game today was the perfect answer because everyone was fighting.”
What’s Next?
Brentford turn their attention to a trip to Bournemouth on Saturday 15 March at 5:30pm GMT, where the Bees will look to continue their push for a top-ten finish.
Villa return their focus to the Champions League on Wednesday 12 March as they host Club Brugge at Villa Park in a 8pm kick-off, with a 3-1 aggregate lead from the first leg of their Round of 16 tie.
Teams
Brentford: Mark Flekken, Kristoffer Ajer (Ji-Soo 93′), Nathan Collins, Ethan Pinnock, Keane Lewis-Potter, Christian Norgaard, Vitaly Janelt (Jensen 75′), Mikkel Damsgaard, Kevin Schade, Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa
Substitutes: Hakon Valdimarsson, Mathias Jensen, Ben Mee, Yehor Yarmoliuk, Yunus Konak, Paris Maghoma, Kim Ji-Soo, Iwan Morgan, Benjamin Fredrick
Aston Villa: Robin Olsen, Axel Disasi, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Lucas Digne, John McGinn (Kamara 61′), Youri Tielemans, Jacob Ramsey (Rashford 68′), Leon Bailey (Cash 46′), Morgan Rogers (Malen 94′), Ollie Watkins
Substitutes: Oliwier Zych, Matty Cash, Pau Torres, Lamare Bogarde, Ian Maatsen, Andres Garcia, Boubacar Kamara, Marcus Rashford, Donyell Malen
Referee – Jarred Gillett
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