Aston Villa defeated Bournemouth 4-0 at Villa Park to finally move into seventh place in the Premier League and take their tally of goals this season to 13.
Bournemouth lost captain Adam Smith to a head injury in the opening minutes following an accidental collision with teammate Tyler Adams, but they were unable to find any rhythm after their early adjustments and Villa turned their early dominance into the lead with a fine free-kick from Emi Buendia.
Minutes before the break, Amadou Onana opened the season with a sharp blow over Djordje Petrovic.
Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola told Sky Sports after the game: “We had a terrible start, having to make substitutions right away, but we can’t use that as an excuse. The first half was really bad.”
Even more pleased with his side after the break, Evanilsson hit the post from a corner kick in the midst of his best spell, before the visitors missed a big chance for a comeback from the penalty spot.
Morgan Rodgers’ careless handball was spotted by referee John Brooks, but after a heated argument with Marcus Tavernier, Antoine Semenyo put the ball away, only to be denied by a good save from Emi Martinez from 12 yards.
This gave Villa a breath of fresh air, and substitute Ross Barkley rubbed salt into Cherries’ wounds when he looked home in the corner moments after scoring the winner, but Donyell Malen added a fortuitous fourth goal late on when he deflected Youri Tielemans’ long-range shot.
Villa have increased their lead over second-placed Chelsea to two points with five wins from six games, but two consecutive losses have seen Bournemouth fall from third place to ninth place at the start of last weekend.
Emery: We bounced back from a bad start
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery told Sky Sports:
“I’m really happy. Since the last suspension, we’ve won some wins in the Premier League, we’ve managed to turn around a poor start and build the team in the image we want. Like the Europa League, we can now rest in a better mood than we did two months ago.”
“It was a huge effort to manage the team with different players and situations and try to perform well as a whole and individually. After the defeat at Liverpool we can be proud of what we achieved.”
Iraora: “The first half was very, very disappointing”
Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola told Sky Sports:
“Obviously it was a deserved win for Villa. Even if it was 4-0, 2-0, 2-0 in the first half, it was a completely different first half. We had a very poor first half. We couldn’t compete at the level of the game. We fought much better in the second half.”
“We were a little nervous at the end of the game, but we didn’t take any chances. The second half was more of us. It was a terrible start. We had to switch quickly, but we can’t use this as an excuse. The first half was really bad.”
