Ollie Watkins proved the distinction as Aston Villa bought again to successful methods with a 1-0 victory over Brentford on the Gtech Group Stadium.
Either side struggled in a cagey first half, although Tyrone Mings poked a shot straight at Mark Flekken earlier than Ethan Pinnock deflected Youri Tielemans’ header onto the roof of the web.
Watkins got here again to hang-out his former membership early within the second half, beating Mark Flekken at his close to publish to attain the winner, because of a slight deflection.
Morgan Rogers thought he had doubled their lead simply over a minute later, coolly firing previous the goalkeeper underneath stress. Nevertheless, Watkins had strayed simply offside within the build-up, with the objective dominated out.
Brentford pushed for an equaliser, with Keane Lewis-Potter placing the publish with their finest likelihood, however they might not cease Villa from finishing a primary Premier League double over them.
Villa transfer up three locations to seventh, simply two factors behind fourth-placed Manchester Metropolis, whereas Brentford are twelfth on 38 factors.
Three factors earned #BREAVL pic.twitter.com/HZlmrOU1Dp
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) March 8, 2025
Information Debrief: Watkins again with a bang
Villa actually rode their luck at occasions in opposition to Brentford, however they managed to carry out for a vital three factors within the race for the highest 4.
Watkins has now scored six targets throughout seven Premier League appearances in opposition to Brentford, solely netting extra strikes in opposition to Brighton within the competitors (seven). Certainly, solely Phil Foden (seven) has scored extra Premier League targets in opposition to the Bees than Watkins.
It implies that Villa have ended their seven-game winless run within the Premier League after taking part in in Europe in midweek (D3 L4), with this their first such victory since beating Wolves 3-1 again in September.
It was one other disappointing residence sport for Brentford although. They’ve didn’t win their final seven on the Gtech within the Premier League (D2 L5), their longest winless streak on residence soil within the prime 4 tiers since a run of 9 between September and December 2006 in League One.