Aston Villa fell further behind leaders Arsenal as Brazilian teenager Ryan scored in his first start for Bournemouth, resulting in a 1-1 draw.
Villa, who are now nine points off the top of the table after last weekend’s shocking home defeat to Brentford, have thanked genius Emi Martinez for making a number of saves on the south coast as Manchester United and Chelsea edge Unai Emery’s side in the race for Champions League qualification.
Morgan Rodgers scored with his first shot after Bournemouth had six shots on target, giving Villa the lead in the dying minutes of the match. The shot came from Jadon Sancho’s slip and hit Jorde Petrovic’s near post high into the net.
Villa once again defied their expected goals tally as Bournemouth recorded 2.31xG on 20 shots, forcing Martinez to make seven saves.
Roger’s eighth league goal of the season came after Martinez made a double save to deny Eli Junior Crupi and Evanilsson, but Ollie Watkins’ tap-in to push Villa’s ball into the goal was ruled offside.
Bournemouth had 1.42xG in the first half, with another double stop from Martinez to deny Adam Scott’s piledriver and Evanilsson’s pursuit before Ryan’s header hit the crossbar in the corner.
Rayan, seen as a long-term replacement for Anthony Semenho and signed for £30.3m from Vasco da Gama in the January transfer window, was also not ruled out for firing a shot past Lucas Digne into the bottom right corner of the goal in the second half.
Villa looked like they were going to score every time they advanced in the first half, but they never rediscovered their attacking threat after the break, with Matty Cash only forcing Petrovic into a top save. Ezri Konsa, on the other hand, was lucky that a VAR check spared him a penalty for his tackle on Scott, who was outside the area.
Bournemouth cruised to victory with Martinez making two crucial saves from Ryan Christie and elsewhere to earn a point.
Luck runs out for ‘unattractive’ villas
Patrick Lowe of Sky Sports:
Contrary to expected goals has been a common theme for Aston Villa this season, but it looks like their luck is starting to run out.
Morgan Rodgers’ brilliant goal was belied by the run of play and any promise they showed early on in the game quickly evaporated.
A mere 0.44 xG highlights the lack of sharpness, intent, and quality in the final third that plagued this performance.
Without Emiliano Martinez and the seven saves he made, Villa would have left empty-handed.
The nine-point gap with leaders Arsenal was rapidly widening, and dreams of competing for the title were replaced by worries that Chelsea, Manchester United and others would close in on their heels.
There is still an eight point difference with 6th place Liverpool, but if they continue to play like this they will narrow the gap and increase their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.
Villa were lackluster and lackluster in both the defeat against Brentford and the draw against Bournemouth. Injuries are plaguing the team, but there is no time for excuses. Villa need to find their spark again.
Emery: That’s a very good point.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery:
“That’s a good point. It was difficult and we fought in the first half and dominated at times, but we needed to defend and in attack we created chances and scored. It was an even game in the first half.”
“In the second half we couldn’t repeat it. They got into our box more times than we would have liked. We tried to build momentum to create chances, but they created more chances.”
“This is a very good point.”
Iraora: “One point is not enough”
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola:
“It’s a good point, but looking at the game it wasn’t good enough for us. We were the better team and we didn’t win, so I can’t be completely satisfied.”
“Every time I play against Emi Martinez, he’s very good. It’s really hard to beat him. There’s a reason he’s world champion and he shows it every weekend.
“I told the players at half-time that we were playing very well and we had to play the same way. It was just a matter of time before we scored.”
“Rayanne was great”
Bournemouth midfielder Adam Scott said of Ryan:
“He’s been great. We have high expectations for him. We know how good he is, we’ve seen him in practice, and we’re bringing Evanilsson here to help him settle in.”
“We’re trying to help him as much as we can and teach him a little bit of English. He’s been great since he came in. It’s his first start, his first goal and I hope he can build on that in the future.”
