It was an all too familiar feeling as fans left Villa park tonight.
A 88th minute equalizer from John Egan to make it 1-1 meant it was two points dropped yet again for the boys in claret and blue. Aston Villa have now lost a second-half lead in four of their last five matches.
The game had a lively start, with Villa needing the win while Brentford had nothing to lose. The home sign had the first real chance of the game. Rudy Gestede played in Kodjia for a shot which was well saved. That was a warning sign Brenford didn’t heed. Minutes later, Kodjia broke the deadlock. A nice ball from Jedinak was taken down by the former Bristol City man, the forward, still with a lot to do, cut inside the full-back and lashed a screamer into the top corner. 1-0 to us. Rudy Gestede had chances to increase the home sides lead, but going into the break Villa led by just the one.
In the second-half, Villa began to struggle. Nervous with a 1-0 lead, we sat back and invited wave after wave of Brentford attack. At one point, Villa fans booed Aly Cissoko for his timewasting tactics as he prepared to take a free-kick. Kodjia nearly doubled the home sides lead, bundling through the Brentford defence before seeing his shot saved. Nevertheless, it looked like a matter of time before Brentford scored. This was perfectly summed up by BBC WM as a “global nail-biting fest”.
With 88 minutes gone, the dreaded equalizer occurred. Egan, playing the role of poacher, fired in at the far post after the Villa defence failed to clear Sully Kaikai’s chipped cross.
The home side were booed off at the full-time whistle.
Anyway, here’s the player ratings for the 1-1 draw at home to Brentford.
