A lackluster Aston Villa were forced to settle for a disappointing 2-2 draw with relegated Burnley, missing out on a chance to progress into the top four.
Villa looked a shadow of the team that swept Nottingham Forest on Thursday to book their place in the Europa League final, but Jadon Anthony was penalized when he capitalized on an error by Emiliano Martinez to give his team the lead.
The Argentine shot-stopper could only tip Leslie Ugochukwu’s long-range attack back into the danger zone before Anthony tucked it into the back of the goal.
Jean Fleming then had a great chance to double Burnley’s lead against an inferior Villa side, but his shot went wide from close range.
A goal was disallowed due to a harsh offside decision by Ollie Watkins, but it ultimately sparked Villa’s response, with Ross Barkley leveling the score moments later with a header.
Watkins would eventually have a say in the game, latching on to Martinez’s long ball to put Villa ahead after his earlier shot was ruled out by VAR, but Fleming side-footed home the equalizer 160 seconds later.
The point at Turf Moor extended Villa’s winless run in the Premier League to three games at a crucial stage of the season, with Bournemouth sitting in sixth place, four points behind them with two games remaining.
Qualifying for the Champions League through league placement is still within their control, but with Liverpool and Manchester City on the line, a dark cloud of uncertainty looms over Unai Emery’s side, with the possibility of having to move up the Europa League to qualify now looming over Unai Emery’s side.
Aston Villa’s Ross Barkley (left) celebrates after scoring the equalizer
Emery: Good points at Burnley, but it’s not enough
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery told Sky Sports.
“I think we deserved more, but we needed to be more clinical. We attacked in the opponent’s half more than we defended in our own half, but we conceded three clear chances and conceded two goals. That’s good, but not enough.”
“We continue to progress and on Friday we play against Liverpool. We are excited for the upcoming games, the Europa League final and Manchester City, amazing!”
“It’s very difficult to get into the top five, but at the moment we can feel very proud of what we’re doing. Overall it’s great!”
O’Hara: Performance flat, Villa will be disappointed.
Jamie O’Hara told Sky Sports News:
“If we win against Burnley, that (top five) is over the line. But they have two important games left where they have to get a result. Villa would have liked to rest their players because they have the Europa League final, but that’s not possible now.”
“After a big performance against Forest on Thursday, this was a flat performance. There are no excuses, they will be disappointed.”
‘Sluggish’ Villa squander chance to relieve pressure
Patrick Lowe of Sky Sports:
Burnley was Aston Villa’s chance to take some pressure off their race to qualify for the Champions League, but it came at the wrong time.
Three days after Unai Emery’s side booked their place in the Europa League final with a 4-0 thrashing of Nottingham Forest at Villa Park, they were given the task of heading to Turf Moor.
If Villa had achieved even a fraction of the level they achieved against Forest, they would have blown away already relegated Burnley. But that wasn’t the case.
Andy Hinchcliffe of Sky Sports described the early stages of the performance as “sluggish”, and apart from short periods of pressure, that theme permeated throughout the performance.
Olly Watkins admitted it was “tough” to dig deep after giving his all against Forest, while Unai Emery defended his players, saying they were “tired” after just three substitutions.
The points left them four points behind sixth-placed Bournemouth, but their place in Europe’s elite competition will not be confirmed until they play Freiburg in Istanbul on May 20.
There is no more difficult end to the season than Liverpool and Manchester City.
The gap between them and their rivals aiming for a top-five finish means the race is still in Villa’s hands, but the fear of missing out on the Champions League altogether, as they did at the end of last season, will continue to loom.
Jackson: We showed character, but I understand the vacancy.
Burnley interim manager Michael Jackson:
“I thought it was a good performance. It showed a lot of personality and I thought it showed a lot of what we talked about before the game and throughout the week about expressing yourself. It’s very simple: Go for it, show what you’re capable of.”
Burnley had not won at home in the league since October and there were many empty seats at Turf Moor.
“I totally understand that,” Jackson said. “In this day and age we live in, it costs money to go to a football game and everything around it.
“I have no problem with that. The fans who came here were really great and supported the team today. It would be great if more fans came.”
