Aston Villa bounced back from their drubbing at Watford to record only their second away win of the season at Burnley, outclassing their opponents to succeed at a venue where they have not won in 14 attempts since 1959. A late Burnley goal flattered the home side a little, for in the first half in particular Villa were full of running and attacking ideas, with Jack Grealish pulling most of the strings.
The only downside for Villa was the sight of Wesley and Tom Heaton departing on stretchers with knee injuries. Both may be out for some time. “We’ll have to have scans before we know anything,” Dean Smith said. “Those are two big players for us and if we lose them it will take the gloss off this win a little bit. We haven’t been great on the road but we knew we had to be better than we were at Watford. We spoke a lot about that game and came up with a hell of a response.”
Villa enjoyed most of the possession in the first half, used it well and would have turned round even further in front but for the latest VAR outrage. Grealish was most certainly not offside when he skipped away from Phil Bardsley to meet Ezri Konsa Ngoyo’s 11th-minute cross with a glancing header but – after the goal had been given and the ball placed on the centre spot ready to restart – it became clear Stockley Park scrutineers were checking whether Wesley’s heel was closer to goal than that of James Tarkowski. They decided it was, though the fact the deliberations lasted more than two minutes gave a clue as to how tiny was the margin.
The Villa fans at the other end of the ground vented their anti-VAR feelings in the now familiar way, as well they might. The way the technology is being used in this country is anti-goals and anti-excitement, and you don’t get up early on New Year’s Day and brave the M6 to put up with that sort of nonsense. “Baffling,” was Smith’s verdict.
Not that Villa let the injustice bother them. They kept pressing forward, kept catching Burnley’s defence square with the accuracy of their passing, and just before the half‑hour were rewarded with a splendid goal. Predictably Grealish was again involved, interpassing with Wesley on the edge of the area before his lofted return found the striker with room to turn and volley past Nick Pope.
The Turf Moor crowd started to berate the home defence for allowing Villa too much time and space on the ball, though the message went unheeded. On the stroke of half-time Burnley stood back and watched as Villa moved the ball smartly from right to left across the edge of the area, until Douglas Luiz’s pass gave Grealish the opportunity to weigh up his shooting options. Bardsley unwisely stood off the Villa captain as he first shaped to attempt a curler into the top‑right corner before summoning the accuracy to find the top-left instead. Grealish has shown time and again this season what he can do in these situations and closing him down quickly is a defensive imperative.
Sean Dyche sent on Jay Rodriguez for the second half and he nearly pulled a goal back almost immediately, shooting too high with little time to react to Tarkowski’s driven cross, though at the other end Villa might have extended their lead but for Pope keeping out an effort from Douglas Luiz.
Burnley put the Villa defence under sustained pressure in the second half without ever really looking like scoring until Wood popped up at the far post to nod in a cross from Ashley Westwood, the tall striker’s glaring miss from a good position a few minutes earlier being more typical of their afternoon.
“We were a long way short today, especially in the first half,” Dyche said. “It looked like we were waiting for someone to give us something, and you can’t play like that in the Premier League.”
