Unai Emery seemed all set to celebrate his two years in charge of Aston Villa with the victory that would have kept his team within three points of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League when Evanilson, Bournemouth’s £31.7m substitute, headed an unexpected equaliser after six minutes of added time with the penultimate touch of the game.
The Brazilian, signed as Dominic Solanke’s replacement from Porto in the summer, expertly glanced a header into the far corner of Emiliano Martínez’s net from Marcus Tavernier’s free-kick with even Mark Travers, the goalkeeper who had kept Bournemouth in the game with some brilliant saves, up for the last chance.
With Ross Barkley coming off the bench to score his first goal back at Villa in the 76th minute, this means that eight goals for each of these clubs this season have been scored or assisted by substitutes. But the most dramatic of this match came when Barkley slid in to foul Tavernier on the left flank, triggering the 13th yellow card of the game, when Villa seemed to be home and dry. At least this gives Emery, who arrived at the club two years ago last Thursday with Villa just above the relegation zone, something else to improve upon. “Always we are being very demanding,” he said. “We can still do better.”
Villa were not at their zesty best but whether this was another case of what follows the Lord Mayor’s show depends on your perspective. This was certainly a better performance than the goalless draw against Manchester United that followed the euphoric victory over Bayern Munich; but then a third successive European victory, over Bologna on Tuesday, was less of an emotional high for Villa to come down from.
In many ways, the stalemate that lasted for 76 minutes was simply a case of Travers, deputising for the injured Kepa Arrizabalaga, holding Villa at bay with some brilliant saves and a VAR line call going against Ollie Watkins in the first half.
Watkins was adjudged to have pulled the ball back from over the byline before he teed up John McGinn to swerve home a shot in the 28th minute after Jacob Ramsey got away down the inside-left channel. It was a hairline decision but Emery was gracious enough not to complain, and not only because two Bournemouth claims for late penalties were not granted.
“Today the referee did a fantastic job,” the Villa manager said. “The ball was out, very tight, but I accept it. Leon Bailey, the ball touched his hand but it was not a penalty. And [Matty] Cash’s tackle on [Antoine] Semenyo the referee looked at very carefully. So I accept it [McGinn’s disallowed goal] completely because I believe in VAR.”
Travers proceeded to produce a series of memorable saves as he enjoyed his return to the starting lineup, not least from Ezri Konsa’s powerful shot five minutes before the interval. Just after hour mark, he tipped over Pau Torres’ humdinger and then kept out Watkins’ header. They were to prove crucial saves as Bournemouth, victors over Arsenal last Saturday, showed their resolve.
As he did against Bologna here on Tuesday, Emery replaced Amadou Onana – partly because he was on a yellow card – with the more attack-minded Barkley at half-time to partner the imperious Youri Tielemans. With John McGinn, Jacob Ramsey and Morgan Rogers playing off Watkins, Villa were all in for the win. It is not as if their full-backs sit back either.
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for 'The Guardian'.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Turn on sport notifications.
Top of the Champions League, these are still heady days for Villa, who have only lost once this season in their opening 13 games. Barkley scored after Ian Maatsen crossed for Bailey to head down for Barkley to scythe in from close range.
Andoni Iraola, the Bournemouth manager, can be satisfied that his team have taken four points off Champions League teams in the past week. “I think we played much better against Arsenal,” he reflected. “We deserved those three points; today we’ve competed well, but we haven’t played well. But sometimes, especially away in the Premier League in this kind of scenery, with the atmosphere they create in this stadium, that is lovely, you have to value a lot where you show the character and help each other. Then I value a lot the point because it it’s very difficult to come here and get something.”
