After Emiliano Martínez’s mistake allowed Mohamed Salah to open the scoring for Liverpool at Anfield last weekend, there was a statistic doing the rounds that only three players had made more errors leading to Premier League goals than the seven made by the Argentinian since he signed for Aston Villa five years ago. The life of a goalkeeper and all that.
But Martínez tends to thrive when in the line of fire and here he pulled off two brilliant saves, including one to deny Antoine Semenyo from the penalty spot. At that point Bournemouth were pushing to make a comfortable afternoon a little more awkward, before the substitutes Ross Barkley and Donyell Malen added their names to the scoresheet in a 4-0 victory that lifts Villa above Bournemouth in the table. For Andoni Iraola’s side, their first notable off-day of an otherwise fine start. Villa began with five winless games but have now won five of their past six league matches.
Villa’s first-half goals were both scored within a couple of yards of the same patch of Villa Park turf, Emiliano Buendía lifting a wonderful free-kick over the Bournemouth wall and past Djordje Petrovic in the visitors’ goal and 12 minutes later Amadou Onana powering a low, precise shot inside the near post. Villa established a two-goal cushion at the interval but the second half always felt dangerous given Bournemouth under Iraola, with nothing to lose, would invariably attack but Villa neutralised their threat.
Bournemouth’s left-back Adrien Truffert was fortunate to avoid a second booking for a poor challenge on the Villa captain, John McGinn, typically brilliant in midfield, and a few minutes later they came close to pulling a goal back. Semenyo rampaged towards goal and though McGinn blocked his route, Alex Scott picked up the leftovers and dispatched a first-time shot. A wicked deflection meant Scott’s effort looped high and a back-pedalling Martínez prevented it sneaking under his crossbar with his left glove. Three minutes later Evanilson headed against a post at a corner.
Midway through the second half Bournemouth had a clear opportunity to score, Morgan Rogers penalised for handling Evanilson’s header from another corner. Martínez asked the Holte End behind him to turn up the volume and they duly obliged before the goalkeeper dived low to his right and clawed Semenyo’s spot-kick away before Villa cleared for a corner.
Unai Emery was a ball of emotion, launching three giant punches into the air towards the Villa fans. Villa added a third when Barkley headed in a Lucas Digne corner and then Malen diverted Youri Tielemans’s shot in off his right boot, though he probably knew little about it. Nevertheless, that did not stop the celebrations and no wonder given the flow of goals; Villa came into this game the joint-second lowest scorers in the division having mustered only nine in their previous 10 matches.
Villa have now lost only one of their past 24 home league matches, a 3-0 defeat by Crystal Palace in August. “I am happy, after the poor start, how we are progressively getting better,” Emery said. “We sent the message inside to increase our demands and consistency every day. Every day working, every day. Focusing intensely in each match. We had a fantastic month … we managed to play at a higher level against Tottenham, Man City, Liverpool and Bournemouth. I am so happy.”
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Bournemouth were poor by the standards they have set this season, perhaps spooked by a sickening early collision between the returning captain, Adam Smith, and Tyler Adams. Smith, half of his face covered in blood, was ordered off the field under concussion protocols despite his wishes to build on his single touch of the ball, while Adams, whose shoulder clashed with Smith in the third minute, resumed his midfield role.
Alex Jiménez replaced Smith at right-back but the Milan loanee did not return for the second half, replaced at half-time by Lewis Cook after the Spaniard picked up a cheap yellow card for crudely checking Buendía’s run. Villa’s subs had a more enjoyable afternoon, Malen stroking wide with three minutes of normal time to run as Villa went in search of a fifth.
Iraola was critical of his team, unimpressed with another slow start that had too many similarities to Bournemouth’s defeat at Manchester City. “I’m worried that in the last two games I felt like we haven’t been ‘us’,” said the Bournemouth head coach. “We haven’t been as aggressive, as good at winning duels, and I think it’s a warning for me from the competition because the margins for us are very small, so it can be costly.
“After a good, solid run of games, these two games are a warning: ‘Careful.’ If you don’t do your basics well or play with the same approach and do the small things properly, like defending set pieces, the competition is going to punish you. You cannot give away 45 minutes in the Premier League, especially against a team like Aston Villa.”
