Shropshire Star

Ollie Westbury analysis: Unbreakable in Europe, but Aston Villa leaking goals at home

It felt like everyone inside Villa Park was stunned when Evanilson’s late header went in.

Plus
Published
Bournemouth's Evanilson scores

Bournemouth for 96 minutes of that clash rarely looked like threatening Villa’s goal, in fact Emi Martinez could have got a deck chair out for the vast majority of the game such was the Cherries’ lack of threat.

There were a couple of penalty shouts towards the back end of the game – which were checked by VAR – but referee Chris Kavanagh got the decisions right.

It looked like Villa would go to their sixth win from their first nine games of the league season.

They created an abundance of opportunities throughout the 90 minutes, enough for them to probably win two football matches let alone one.

Aston Villa's Ross Barkley celebrates

But they did not kill off their opponents – led by Andoni Iraola – who were stubborn and resilient throughout without offering much from an attacking perspective.

Everyone inside the stadium thought Unai Emery’s side had done the job, and they had one final set piece to see off after Ross Barkley fouled Marcus Tavernier.

They switched off though, failing to mark Evanilson and his brilliant header went beyond Martinez and into the corner.

That was the Brazilian’s second Premier League goal after Bournemouth broke their club record fee to bring him in from Porto in the summer.

There were lots of goals conceded in stoppage time in the Premier League over the weekend so Villa were certainly not the only one dealing with late heartbreak.