Aston Villa supporters are trusting this was a case of before the Lord Mayor’s show as they warmed up for Saturday’s FA Cup final with a distinctly below-par performance on a day when Burnley signed off from the Premier League with a typically spirited display and a rare away win.
Fittingly, it was Danny Ings who scored the only goal of the game, his 11th in the league this season, and he went over to the Burnley fans to offer a muted wave of farewell after the final whistle blew with his future likely to be away from Turf Moor. “It looks that way,” Sean Dyche, the Burnley manager, said.
It has been a hearty effort from Burnley, and they gave their all at Villa Park, as they have all season long, even if that has not proved sufficient to avoid an immediate return to the Championship.
Villa secured their Premier League status last week, after this spring’s fine resurgence under Tim Sherwood that they hope has one more peak at Wembley, but they finish one place above the relegation zone after ending the campaign with successive defeats. “The table tells no lies,” the downcast Villa manager said. “Where you finish in the league is where you deserve to finish.” Now they must rediscover their previous level of intensity if they are to give Arsenal a game on Saturday.
It is to Burnley’s credit that, although they have the Championship rather than the Cup final to look forward to, they were more up for the challenge on the day. Once ahead, they also had the knowledge that t is more than three months since they scored and lost. “Credit to Burnley,” Sherwood said. “They were difficult to break down. They scored early and we didn’t show enough imagination to break them down. Everyone came here today and expected us to turn Burnley over. They ain’t done that too many times over the last couple of years.”
Ings’s winner at Hull a fortnight ago was the only goal Burnley had scored in their previous eight games so when he headed neatly home in the sixth minute, after Ashley Barnes nodded back into the danger area following Frederik Ulvestad’s heading duel, the travelling supporters celebrated wildly. Ings should have scored again 20 minutes later but leant back before sidefooting a half-volley way over the crossbar. “I was on to him for not getting the second,” Dyche said. “I don’t think he’s thirsty to go anywhere, he just wants a fresh and a bigger challenge. We all want to be in the Premier League.”
It was not that Villa played badly, just that their concentration seemed slightly awry. The 6-1 thrashing at Southampton last week had indicated minds were turning to Wembley but, apart from Jed Steer being granted his Premier League debut with Shay Given injured, Sherwood named his strongest available lineup. The Villa manager reported that Given was a doubt for the Cup final, having sustained a groin injury in training. “They’re assessing him,” he said. “I’m not ruling him out.”
Steer played creditably well, denying George Boyd midway through the second half with a rapid rush from his goal while, at the other end, Tom Heaton showed why he has been called up by England with a man-of-the-match contribution. He shovelled a Christian Benteke header round the post and tipped an Ashley Westwood volley over the crossbar at the end of the first half then, as Villa dominated the second period, produced increasingly impressive saves from Gabriel Agbonlahor, Fabian Delph and Charles N’Zogbia.
Man of the match Tom Heaton (Burnley)
