Brentford vs Aston Villa. Premier League.
Gtech Community StadiumAttendance17,034.
Match report and free highlights as Aston Villa produce chaotic late comeback at Brentford; Ben Mee's sending off saw Alex Moreno cancel out Keane Lewis-Potter's opener; Ollie Watkins scored late winner against former club with controversial celebration; Villa's Boubacar Kamara sent off
Sunday 17 December 2023 22:49, UK
Aston Villa produced a late 2-1 comeback victory at Brentford in a chaotic game that saw both sides shown a red card as Ollie Watkins scored the winner against his former club to move Villa within a point of leaders Arsenal.
Brentford defender Ben Mee's sending off in the 71st minute sparked the Villa turnaround as Alex Moreno (77) cancelled out Keane Lewis-Potter's first-half opener (45).
Watkins then scored an 85th-minute header which was followed by a celebration that saw him stand inside the goal and point at a Brentford supporter in the home end causing a melee between the two sides.
Watkins said "personal abuse" from a Brentford fan fuelled his celebration, with the comments made understood to be related to the England striker's family, but were not of a racial nature.
An ill-tempered game then flared up even further in stoppage time when Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez pulled Neal Maupay off the ground by his shirt causing another scuffle that led to Villa midfielder Boubacar Kamara being sent off in the 97th minute.
A fiery game ended with two red cards, 10 bookings and both managers being cautioned.
Villa, though, managed to hold on to record a third straight league win which saw them temporarily move second before Liverpool's goalless draw against Manchester United that pushed Unai Emery's side back into third.
Meanwhile, Brentford suffered a third consecutive defeat to remain 12th in the table.
Villa carried huge momentum into the game after impressive back-to-back home victories over Manchester City and Arsenal, with Emery's side then qualifying top of their Europa Conference League group in midweek.
Their confidence was clear early on but it was the Bees that came closest to opening the scoring in the eighth minute as Martinez saved well from Mikkel Damsgaard's close-range effort.
Villa then quickly regained control and had two great chances to take the lead only for Matty Cash to volley wide at the back post in the 25th minute before Jacob Ramsey miscued his shot three minutes later when put through by Watkins' clever headed knockdown.
The visitors were then made to pay for those misses as Lewis-Potter scored on the stroke of half-time as he pounced quickest at a corner to hit a low shot into the net for just his second Brentford goal since joining from Hull in July 2022.
Villa once again dominated possession at the start of the second half but failed to create anything meaningful with Brentford surprisingly causing the bigger threat.
A short corner in the 65th minute saw Damsgaard whip in a lovely ball for the unmarked Yoane Wissa whose header was pushed away well by Martinez.
Emery then immediately made his first changes as he brought on Jhon Duran and Leon Bailey, and it was the latter who made an instant impact as he drew the high challenge that saw Mee sent off.
After initially being shown a yellow card, VAR sent referee David Coote to the pitchside monitor where he overturned his decision to upgrade the tackle to a red card and dismiss Mee to the fury of Brentford boss Thomas Frank who was booked.
The home side's anger was compounded just six minutes later when Moreno headed in at the back post from Bailey's cross for the defender's first Premier League goal.
A Villa winner felt inevitable and it came in the 85th minute through Watkins as he headed in from Kamara's flick-on at a corner leading to the ex-Brentford man celebrating in front of the home fans. His actions then saw a melee ensue with yellow cards handed to Villa's Ezri Konsa and Brentford's Saman Ghoddos.
There was further Brentford anger when Duran threw the ball away before the restart leading to him being booked and a disagreement between the dugouts.
But tempers boiled over once again in stoppage time as Martinez lifted Maupay off the ground leading to Emery charging down the touchline to calm things down, only for Kamara to shove Brentford substitute Yegor Yarmolyuk in the neck and receive a red card whilst Emery was handed a yellow.
In total, Brentford were shown six yellow cards while Villa received four as the visitors came out on top in a feisty affair to keep their red hot-form going and enhance their title credentials.
Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins told Sky Sports:
"It was a bit of a feisty game, it all spurred from my celebration but that's not down to a lack of respect for the fans.
"I love the club, the players and staff, I've not got a bad word to say against them. But there was one person who was abusing me all game, the celebration wasn't to anyone else but it was directed directly at him.
"[Thomas Frank] asked me why I had celebrated like that, I'm still on texting terms with him but it's because of that reason.
"I feel like I've done so much for the club and they've done so much for me, football's football and you can have a bit of banter but not when it's personal.
"If the club don't believe me it's up to them - but I've explained it to Thomas and he knows I wouldn't do that for no reason. It agitated me and that's what happened."
Villa boss Unai Emery told Sky Sports:
"Of course we are happy with the result," he said. "But I could be happier. I want to analyse collectively and individually with the players, but it is my spirit when we are playing and winning to try to respect everything.
"On the pitch, the players are excited, both teams had some nervous moments, and things like what we saw can happen. But I want to work on it, because the red card of Kamara and some individual behaviours I don't want in my team.
"We need to always keep our minds in balance. My message before the matches is always the same - respect ourselves, respect the opponent, respect the referees.
"We lost a little bit of our minds today in some of those behaviours, I want to focus and react to control it."
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank told Sky Sports:
"We were on top of the game in many ways, then a red card changed the game. After that there were a lot of incidents I didn't like, it's not how the game should be played.
"Ollie is a very good player, and a top person with top integrity. I was surprised about the situation, I spoke to him and it was about a fan. He always shows class, so there's no problem there.
"I don't think it was a red card, we need consistency with VAR. We got a yellow with Frank Onyeka which I think is a red. Today, I watched it back, and it's not a red. We need consistency.
"I think he should have had a penalty earlier in the game too. I'm big on VAR, but I don't think David [Coote] had enough help from it. I still believe we need to learn lessons and go on with that if it did make mistakes, but it's hard."
Aston Villa are in front of the Friday Night Football cameras next on December 21 as they face relegation strugglers Sheffield United at home, 8pm kick off, live on Sky Sports.
Meanwhile, Brentford are not back in action until December 27 when they host Wolves, 7.30pm kick off.
