Aston Villa came from behind to record a 2-1 victory over 10-man Brentford in Sunday afternoons’ Premier League clash at the Brentford Community Stadium.
Brentford took the lead in the latter stages of the first period through Keane Lewis-Potter, but Alex Moreno levelled the scores in the 77th minute, before Ollie Watkins netted the winner in the 85th minute, with Unai Emery’s side securing all three points.
The result has moved Villa into second position in the table, while Brentford remain 12th, with the Bees, who had Ben Mee sent off on home soil, losing their eighth league game of the campaign.
Villa, who also had Boubacar Kamara sent off in the final exchanges, had the first half-chance of the match in the fifth minute when Moreno worked space inside the Brentford box, but his effort never threatened to cause Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken problems.
Moreno had another opportunity in the seventh minute, but the Spaniard struck over the crossbar after smart work from Kamara.
Brentford’s first opportunity came in the eighth minute, with Vitaly Janelt finding Mikkel Damsgaard inside the penalty box, but his effort was saved by Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
Villa had a brilliant chance in the 24th minute, with Pau Torres delivering a cross into Matty Cash, but the right-back missed the target in a huge let-off for the home side.
Jacob Ramsey then missed the target in the 27th minute, and both sides continued to have half-chances before the breakthrough arrived shortly before the interval.
The goal came for Lewis-Potter, with the 22-year-old smashing into the back of the net from inside the penalty box after Emery’s side had failed to deal with a corner from the left.
Brentford thought that they had doubled their advantage in the closing stages of the half through Yoane Wissa, but the offside flag prevented the Bees from scoring a second.
VAR had a look at a possible red card early in the second period for Christian Norgaard’s challenge on John McGinn, but the decision was still a yellow card after a review.
Kamara had a half-chance for Villa just before the hour when he met a corner from Ramsey, but the midfielder’s effort just missed the far post, before Martinez did brilliantly to keep out a header from Wissa in the 63rd minute, with both sides threatening to add to the scoring.
Brentford were reduced to 10 men in the 71st minute, with Mee handed a red card for a poor challenge on Leon Bailey, with the decision coming after the referee had been sent to the monitor.
Villa then levelled the scores in the 77th minute, with Moreno’s bullet header from a dangerous Bailey cross making it 1-1 heading into the final stages of the contest.
The visitors then scored a second in the 85th minute, with Watkins finding the back of the net with a header after Kamara had flicked on a corner from Ramsey, and there was to be no late response from the home side, with Emery’s team, who had Kamara sent off in the latter stages following an altercation with Yegor Yarmolyuk, moving into second spot in the table.
