Aston Villa were held to a 1-1 draw by Burnley in midweek, as our hopes of a top-half finish in the Premier League appear to be over this season.
Villa fell behind after Ashley Barnes converted from the penalty spot for the visitors, but having conceded the penalty, Emiliano Buendia made up for his error by firing us level early in the second half.
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However, we couldn’t find a winning goal with Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope denying us with a string of top saves, but that won’t mask the disappointment of our results over the past week as we now look ahead to the season-ending trip to Manchester City on Sunday.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Burnley
Emiliano Martinez, 7 – Produced some key saves at times with Burnley posing a threat, always a reliable presence between the posts but will be disappointed not to have added to his clean sheets tally.
Matty Cash, 7 – Energetic and hard-working as always down that right flank. Put in a shift defensively and got forward to provide width when possible while firing in some efforts from distance but couldn’t trouble Pope.
Calum Chambers, 7 – A good performance overall, kept things simple in possession in building out from the back and was switched on defensively throughout.
Tyrone Mings, 7 – Similar effort to his centre-half partner, but he added a decisive, goal-saving block in the latter stages as he put himself on the line to prevent Burnley from taking a lead for a second time.
Lucas Digne, 6 – Tidy display but nothing of note to add to his performance as Villa would hope for him to be more influential on the ball for us in attacking areas.
John McGinn, 7 – A tireless shift as always as he worked hard out of possession, while he showed his quality with a great ball into the box to pick out Buendia for his goal.
Douglas Luiz, 6 – Kept things simple and didn’t have an overly impactful influence on the game in the defensive midfield role as he waits to see if he’ll still be first choice in that position next season.
Jacob Ramsey, 6 – Good to see him back in the starting XI and offered some direct, progressive running into the Burnley final third to give us some penetration. Wasn’t quite able to be decisive though in those key areas.
Carney Chukwuemeka, 5 – A really quiet outing on his big chance in the starting line-up. Didn’t really do too much of note on the ball, and he looks to still be a little off the pace and lacking the physicality at this level to provide us with a stern defensive presence in midfield.
Emiliano Buendia, 7 – Gave away the penalty with a poor challenge, but atoned for his error with a well-taken goal to level the scores. He continues to look like a bright, positive influence in the side when involved, and he’s certainly made a strong case to be more heavily involved moving forward.
Ollie Watkins, 6 – Worked his socks off out of possession as always, giving us a defensive presence from the front. However, whether it was a lack of good service or just Watkins not quite at it in this one, he couldn’t provide us with a sustained attacking threat as he was outnumbered and outmuscled against a three-man Burnley defence.
Substitutes:
Bertrand Traore, 5 – Showed glimpses with his technical quality and ability to run at players, but not a major impact on the game.
Philippe Coutinho, 5.5 – Similar to Traore, got into good areas but couldn’t produce anything to make the difference.
Danny Ings, 6 – Almost scored with his first touch as he sent an effort just wide, looked lively after coming on.
