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Ezri Konsa’s last minute winner secured all three points as Aston Villa fought from behind to win against Watford.
Words: Regan Foy | @findfoy
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Aston Villa returned to Villa Park this evening for the return fixture against Watford, who they suffered a heavy defeat to just a few weeks ago.
The home side put Watford under some pressure in the first ten minutes, but their pushes forward in the early periods did not result in much.
Danny Drinkwater, who was slated on social media following his selection over Douglas Luiz, looked one of the brighter sparks in the game in the first fifteen or so minutes.
From the 20th minute onwards, Aston Villa looked relentless in their pressure at Watford struggled to get out of their own half.
Just before the 30 minute mark, Tyrone Mings took an almighty shot to the back of the head – something that would have likely decapitated a lesser man – before dropping to the floor. He recovered quickly, thankfully.
The first goal was against the run of play as Deulofeu found himself on the edge of the box thanks to a strong pass from Doucoure – before the Spaniard played the ball in for Troy Deeney – getting in between Konsa and Guilbert to net his sixth goal in four games against Aston Villa.
Deulofeu broke two minutes before half-time thanks to a poor touch from Konsa before firing into the side netting rather than making the most of his opportunity and cutting it into the Aston Villa box.
Tyrone Mings was booked for a late challenge on Doucoure as the clock ticked into added time.
As expected, Aston Villa came out of the blocks looking like the stronger side as they looked to fight towards an equaliser.
Ezri Konsa had an effort from range in the 52nd minute that sailed wide of the mark.
Pepe Reina was the hero in the 54th minute, denying Troy Deeney after his own palmed ball into his path, before stopping the ball again as Tyrone Mings failed to clear.
The 55th minute saw Douglas Luiz replace Danny Drinkwater.
Aston Villa’s equaliser came as Jack Grealish fend off the approach of four defenders before playing into Targett, whose shot was parried to the far post – where Douglas Luiz was waiting to net into a half-empty net. The Brazilian rushed into the crowd to celebrate.
Indiana Vassilev replaced Trezeguet in the final quarter of an hour.
The Villans continued the pressure, and Jack Grealish continued to get knocked around the pitch – there was a shout for a penalty in the 88th minute but the captain had gone down far too easily with a loss of balance.
With the last kick of the game, Pepe Reina hoofed a free-kick ball into the area, which was won by Tyrone Mings before he poked a ball towards Ezri Konsa who curled a shot into the top corner. Not bad for a centre-back!
