Matt Maher analysis: Aston Villa edge closer but the champagne order is on hold
Villa might have ended the weekend one step closer to winning the race for Champions League football, yet frustration stems from a sense they should already be putting in their Champagne order.
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For the second time in three home league matches, Unai Emery’s team were 2-0 up but failed to win with Chelsea following Brentford as the second team from west London to stage a comeback.
By the finish, the hosts were grateful for the point they did take, after Robin Olsen’s vital stoppage-time save to deny Cole Palmer a winner was followed by a VAR reprieve when Axel Disasi thought he’d snatched all three points for the visitors.
Emery’s tactic in the aftermath was to focus on a bigger picture in which positives are undoubtedly plentiful.
Saturday’s results mean Villa can finish no lower than fifth, are guaranteed Europa League football and their best finishing position for 27 years. For the first time since 1990, they will end a season above Manchester United in the table and by a considerable margin too.
Yet having got themselves into such a great position to secure Champions League football, Emery knows failure to do so now will represent a major disappointment. His animated reaction on the touchline as the clock ticked down stoppage-time, when Olsen was slow to get the ball back in play, told the true story. So too did his eyes, as he attempted to deliver an upbeat post-match message.
