Aston Villa recorded a sweet-tasting victory at Brentford that slightly rewrites two negative tropes from their season, and it was in large part down to one of their big January signings. But not that one. Or that one.
In a hard-fought win at Brentford it was Axel Disasi who stood out in a solid rearguard action that ensured the one very predictable element of this game – Ollie Watkins scoring yet again against his former club – would be enough to secure three precious points for Villa.
With Emi Martinez and one of those new signings Marco Asensio (the latest victim of the very real Big Weekend curse) missing, this would have been a fine result for Villa even without the odds that the situation seemingly stacked against them. But a win away from home immediately after a Champions League midweek is a huge statement.
This was only Villa’s second win in their last 10 away games, and their first straight after a Champions League game since a home win over Wolves back in September.
With all that to consider, there’s a case to be made that this is Villa’s best and most significant league win of the entire campaign.
It certainly does some interesting things to a congested scrap for European places that shows no sign of ending much before the music stops in May. Villa are back up to seventh and only a point outside the now very likely top-five Champions League cutoff, albeit having played two games more than Chelsea.
They remain outsiders for a return to a competition they have graced so well this season, but cannot be ruled out. Theirs also doesn’t look the worst run-in, either. They still have a Southampton game, which remains a significant note for anyone, and have no games left against the top two. Games against Brighton, Forest, City, Newcastle, Bournemouth and the like represent opportunity as much as obstacle, while there may well be no better way for anyone to be rounding off this season than with games against Tottenham and Man United, who will either be mired in deep despair or preparing for a European final. Either way, they’re not likely to be the most interested of participants in May league games.
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A long way to go until then, of course, but this still felt like a game Villa needed to get something out of to avoid drifting uncomfortably off the European pace given the extra games played.
It was not Villa’s greatest performance of the season, but it was a solid show and marked improvement on recent lethargic efforts after midweek exertion. The defensive solidity in particular a welcome boost for a side that has too often been too easily picked apart and played through on their Premier League travels this season.
Yet it must also be noted that Brentford have some very curious quirks of their own this season, and they show little sign of abating. In their first eight home games of the Premier League season, they won seven, drew the other and helped themselves to a frankly daft 26 goals. In seven games at the Gtech since an at-the-time trademark 4-2 win over Newcastle they have drawn two, lost five and scored just four goals.
And just to hammer home the daftness, three of those four goals came against Manchester City and Arsenal.
There is without doubt a significant contribution from a skewed fixture list here, but that astonishing home run at the start of the season still included wins over Bournemouth and that thumping of Newcastle, while this second set of results has included failures against Tottenham, Everton and now a post-CL Villa who in those specific set of circumstances are among the worst away teams going.
The team that spent a good four months quite simply unable to stop scoring goals on this ground has now been shut out by the team with the worst away defensive record outside the four teams cast adrift at the bottom. A slight uptick in general overall quality of opposition cannot explain away the fact that in their last 630 Premier League minutes here Brentford have only managed the same number of goals they did in 90 against Newcastle.
The subdued performance of Bryan Mbeumo here might, though. He’s not been the same player recently, and with his creative output – at home at least, where he doesn’t have a goal contribution since New Year’s Day – dwindling Brentford become a wildly different proposition.
Watkins himself had gone four games without a goal in all competitions, but there was little chance of that run extending here; that’s now six goals in six Premier League starts for Watkins against his former team, and this might yet end up the most significant of the lot.
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