Brentford 1-2 Aston Villa. Aston Villa came from behind to dramatically beat Brentford after a red card for Bees defender Ben Mee changed the match.
Keane Lewis-Potter opened the scoring for the hosts at the end of the first half, shooting through a crowded penalty area after Villa failed to clear a corner from the left.
But the game turned when Mee was sent off in the 71st minute for diving in and catching Leon Bailey on the ankle.
On-pitch referee David Coote, close to where it happened, originally handed Mee a yellow card but, following a check by video assistant referee Craig Pawson, was advised to check the incident and it was then upgraded to a red card.
Brentford manager Thomas Frank was furious with the decision and got booked, with Villa capitalising on their player advantage six minutes later.
Bailey’s cross was headed in at the back post by Alex Moreno for an equaliser, before Watkins headed in an 85th-minute winner from Boubacar Kamara’s flick-on.
In a bad-tempered match, Kamara was then sent off for pushing the face of Yehor Yarmoliuk in stoppage time, with Villa boss Unai Emery also cautioned.
Both sides could well face disciplinary action from the Football Association for failing to control their players in a few unpleasant incidents during the closing stages of the match.
Brentford and Aston Villa each had a player sent off, six players were booked for Brentford, four for Villa, and both managers were cautioned.
Watkins spent three years at Brentford between 2017 and 2020 and scored 49 goals for the Bees during that time.
However, he celebrated what proved to be the winning goal by standing inside the goal and pointing at a supporter, who may have been abusive towards the England striker.
Brentford’s Saman Ghoddos then shoved Watkins, which caused the first of the scuffles with players from both sides getting involved.
After that came farcical scenes between Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and Brentford forward Neal Maupay.
Villa’s Bailey nearly scored an own goal with a misjudged backpass from nearly the halfway line, with the ball hitting the side netting. Maupay, looking to get the ball for the corner, then ran into Martinez, who made a lot of what appeared to be minimal contact.
The pair were then involved in another incident, with this time Maupay over-reacting to little contact from the goalkeeper.
Martinez tried to forcefully lift Maupay off the ground and that sparked pushing from both sides’ players with Kamara shoving the face of substitute Yarmoliuk and getting a red card.
Emery, who appeared to move Martinez away from the incident, was then cautioned in a fiery end to the encounter.
Villa maintain good run
The scenes at the end overshadowed what had developed into an intriguing encounter between two fiercely committed sides.
Brentford had lost four of their last five matches, while Villa were playing for the second time in four days after their 1-1 draw in Bosnia-Herzegovina on Thursday against Zrinjski Mostar, a result that took Villa into the last 16 of the Europa Conference League.
The visitors wanted Brentford to go down to 10 men early in the second half when Christian Norgaard caught John McGinn on the shin, with the home player receiving a yellow card.
Until Mee’s sending-off, Villa were looking far from their best, with Yoane Wissa missing a glorious chance to double Brentford’s advantage, denied by Martinez’s excellent save.
Moreno had earlier missed a couple of chances but made it 1-1 in the 77th minute before Watkins, who had been kept quiet by the Brentford defence, scored an 85th-minute winner.
Villa have won 12, drawn three and lost only once in their past 16 matches in all competitions. They began the day third in the Premier League and moved up to second, although they will drop back to third if Liverpool avoid defeat against Manchester United in the late kick-off.
source – BBC
