Aston Villa salvaged a point in a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth on Sunday, with Ollie Watkins scoring a brilliant late header to secure a share of the spoils.
Villa fell behind early yet again away from home, but produced a good response to level things up through Leon Bailey in the first half.
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Diego Carlos, guilty of making a sloppy error in the lead up to Bournemouth’s opener, thought he had atoned for his earlier mistake after scoring a second, but it was ruled out with Lucas Digne adjudged to be offside when providing the assist.
In truth, Villa were poor throughout and miles off of our best level, and it looked as though we would be punished after conceding another poor goal in the second half and we continued to trail until the latter stages.
Fortunately though, Watkins produced a moment of class with his header to draw us level again, and so while it was a disappointing display that showed there is still a lot of improvement needed, particularly away from home, it was crucial to keep our momentum going by earning a point.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Bournemouth:
Emiliano Martinez, 8.5 – Made a string of brilliant saves over the course of the game, and so without him, we end up empty-handed on our journey home. Continues to be decisive week in and week out through his world-class saves.
Ezri Konsa, 6.5 – A really difficult afternoon for him as he was constantly targeted and lacked support to deal with the threat from the hosts down our right side. While he did look vulnerable at times, he also produced a big moment with an excellent challenge on Kluivert to deny what was likely a goal.
Diego Carlos, 6 – His sloppy pass was duly punished by Bournemouth as they opened the scoring early. He’s been impressive when involved this season, but this was a reminder of the sharpness and level of accuracy we need from him in every minute of every game. Had a goal ruled out, and did recover after the early error.
Pau Torres, 6.5 – Could, and probably should, have done better for the second goal. That aside, he was composed and calm in possession while it was lacking elsewhere in the side. Drove forward with the ball on occasion too in an attempt to open things up for our attacking players.
Lucas Digne, 6 – Will come under increasing pressure from Alex Moreno to keep his starting place moving forward. Was a decent display, albeit without doing much of real significance in either phase.
Leon Bailey, 7 – Took his goal brilliantly as he cut inside and produced a top finish into the corner to continue his positive season thus far. Wasn’t able to follow that up with a sustained threat, but a decisive impact nonetheless.
Youri Tielemans, 6 – Did well at times in keeping possession and building attacks, but this wasn’t the game for him to come in and try to give us defensive protection and solidity. The balance was off in the Villa midfield in this one without Boubacar Kamara, which wasn’t all down to Tielemans, but we didn’t have the control we would have liked.
Douglas Luiz, 6.5 – Not his best, but continued to plug away in midfield to give us control in the game. Will be disappointed he didn’t bury a chance in the first half, and similarly to Tielemans, they were too easily bypassed by Bournemouth’s attacking game plan and so we weren’t able to get a foothold until the latter stages when pushing for an equaliser.
John McGinn, 6 – Quiet from the Villa captain, as he didn’t have much of an influence on proceedings. Villa were too often overrun in midfield and caught out in transition, and so his qualities would have perhaps been more useful in a more central role for this one where his tenacity and combativeness at least could have been more telling.
Nicolo Zaniolo, 5.5 – A limited impact from the Italian international, before he was replaced at half-time. This felt like a big chance for him in a more favourable role, but he couldn’t get going.
Ollie Watkins, 8 – A huge boost prior to kick-off that he was fit to start, and after battling his way through the encounter to try and give us a presence and focal point up top, his quality eventually made the difference through a superb late header to ensure we secured a point.
Substitutes:
Jacob Ramsey, 5.5 – Wasn’t able to impact the game in the way we would have hoped, as he didn’t offer too much of a threat down that left side in the second half.
Jhon Duran, 6 – Added a different dynamic up top alongside Watkins. It’s questionable if that helped us in terms of going long more, but he almost had the perfect impact as he saw an effort hit the post.
Alex Moreno, 6 – Injected a bit more impetus and energy down the left flank in the latter stages.
Matty Cash, 6 – Similar to Moreno but on the opposite side as he kept possession well to build up our attacking moves.
Moussa Diaby, 6.5 – Produced an excellent delivery for Watkins’ goal, as he made another decisive impact to back up his effort in midweek.