- Aston Villa returned to winning ways after losing to Manchester United on Boxing Day by beating Burnley 3-2
- Villa had failed to protect their lead twice in the match before Douglas Luiz scored the winning goal from the penalty spot in the 89th minute
The Aston Villa vs Burnley fixture played on Saturday at Villa Park ended in a 3-2 victory for the hosts. Unai Emery’s side returned to winning ways after losing to Manchester United on Boxing Day, thanks to a late Douglas Luiz penalty.
Aston Villa had failed to protect their lead twice against Burnley before Luiz scored the winning goal from the penalty spot in the 89th minute. Leon Bailey put Villa in front after 28 minutes of play but Vincent Kompany’s side levelled the scores barely three minutes later through Zeki Amdouni.
Aston Villa vs Burnley. Photo/ 7sport.net.
Moussa Diaby put the hosts ahead towards the end of the first half, but Burnley found their way back into the match again despite being one-man down after Sander Berge was shown a second yellow card.
Aston Villa’s victory means they have moved to second place on the Premier League table with 42 points in 20 matches. Villa, who were struggling before appointing Emery, have won more home games (17) and earned more points at home (53) in the Premier League in 2023 than any other team.
Speaking after the match, Villa manager Unai Emery said: “Always the idea is to improve and get better. It was really fantastic, the year we did – but I’m very excited for the next match. We have 42 points and we can feel comfortable and happy, but…my expectation for the next year is try to progress. I am going to manage how we can progress.”
Aston Villa Vs Burnley
Unai Emery made two changes from his side’s 3-2 loss to Manchester United, with Moussa Diaby replacing Leander Dendoncker and Alex Moreno coming in for Lucas Digne. On the other side, Vincent Kompany made just one change to the team that was defeated by Liverpool in midweek, replacing Mike Tresor with Johann Gudmundsson.
The opening minutes of this match was entertaining, but it was Villa who eventually took control of the game and scored the first goal in the 28th minute. Ollie Watkins’ pass across the box was picked by Leon Bailey, who cut in from the right before taking a strike that went in after a deflection.
Burnley equalized two minutes later when a free kick into the box was headed by Dara O’Shea before Amdouni acrobatically volleyed from close range. But with majority of the fans at Villa Park being behind Aston Villa, the hosts had the momentum and took the lead again in the 42nd minute through Moussa Diaby. Ollie Watkins was again the assist provider.
Burnley were lively at the start of the second half, but things went wrong when the match’s referee showed Sander Berge a second yellow in the 56th minute. From there, Villa sent one ball after another into Burnley’s box.
Surprisingly, the visitors found their way back into this game despite being under pressure when Lyle Foster broke in behind and slammed home at the near post. It was Foster’s first goal since October when he took a two-month break to deal with mental struggles.
With time running out, it seemed as if Burnley were going to walk away with a point. However, there was still another twist to come as Ramsey brought down Duran in the box and the referee pointed to the spot. Douglas Luiz stepped up to take the penalty and the ball twice struck the bar before crossing the line.
Douglas Luiz celebrates with his teammates after scoring from the penalty spot at Villa Park. Photo/ Loop News Caribbean.
Burnley boss Vincent Kompany was not happy with the officiating that led to the penalty as his side suffered a 3-2 defeat.
“The way the game was officiated in moments, I really struggled to reconcile with the things we get told, the things I see in other games. I’m asking myself was it an appropriate impact that decisions had on the game. Soft fouls, quick decisions on soft moments.” Vincent Kompany is quoted by Sky Sports.
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