Aston Villa 2-2 Brentford: Kristoffer Ajer's 79th-Minute Leveller Denies Villa a First Home League Win
John McGinn's deflected strike had Villa Park believing at 2-1, but Kristoffer Ajer broke through from deep two minutes later to make it 2-2 and keep Brentford unbeaten after six Premier League games.
Aston Villa had a first home league win of the season in their hands for two minutes. Then Kristoffer Ajer broke through from deep on the left and beat Emiliano Martínez's understudy to make it 2-2, and a game Villa Park thought they had just won slipped away again.
Brentford had led first. Yehor Yarmoliuk opened the scoring in the 10th minute, and Nicolas Jackson equalised two minutes later to send the afternoon into a pattern it would repeat at the other end of the match: nobody at Villa Park led for more than a couple of minutes without the visitors finding an answer.
McGinn's moment, undone in two minutes
John McGinn put Villa 2-1 up in the 77th minute with a deflected strike that had the home end up on its feet. It lasted until the 79th, when Ajer did what Brentford have done all season without quite being flashy about it — found the gap, kept moving, and finished.
| Stat | Aston Villa | Brentford |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 52.1% | 47.9% |
| Total shots | 20 | 14 |
| Shots on target | 7 | 4 |
| Expected goals (xG) | 2.28 | 1.06 |
| Corners | 2 | 2 |
| Fouls conceded | 7 | 24 |
| Offsides | 1 | 1 |
| Yellow cards | 2 | 5 |
Two very different six-game starts
The draw leaves Unai Emery's side with one win in their first six league games, a run that has included home defeats to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest and, most recently, a 3-2 win away at Tottenham Hotspur before Saturday's draw. Twenty shots and 2.28 expected goals on Saturday say the chances are there; five points from six games say Villa are not yet turning them into results.
Brentford, by contrast, have not lost since the opening weekend of August. Two wins and four draws from their six matches — over Tottenham and Chelsea, level with Leeds United, Sunderland, Bournemouth and now Villa — have them fourth in the table, inside the Champions League places, still unbeaten and still difficult to put away even when they are behind.
Line-ups
- Aston Villa: Suzuki — Cash, Lindelöf, Mings, Ruggeri — Kamara, Gomes — McGinn (c), Buendía, Manzambi — Jackson
- Brentford: Kelleher — Kayode, Schuster, Ajer, Diouf — Yarmoliuk, Janelt (c) — Anthony, Lewis-Potter, Schade — Thiago
What's next
The point leaves Aston Villa 15th on 5 points and Brentford 4th on 10, one of only three Premier League sides — alongside Manchester City and Everton — still unbeaten after six league games. Referee Craig Pawson took charge at Villa Park.
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