Brentford came from a goal down to start 2022 with a memorable win over Aston Villa. The Bees trailed after a difficult opening to the contest but battled back.
Yoann Wissa struck a superb equaliser before Mads Roerslev scored the winner late on.
The Bees certainly had to battle for the win. They worked hard to stay in the game when Villa had the upper hand and then clinically took their chances when they came. They scored late on in either half to secure a 2-1 win on a mild January afternoon.
Villa had complete control of the first quarter of the contest. They dominated midfield, not giving Brentford any time or space to play through the centre of the pitch, and had far more of the ball. They did not create many openings but did enough to deserve the lead they held 20 minutes in.
John McGinn shot wide from a distance after Brentford lost possession in midfield before fine play from Emiliano Buendía set up a chance for Danny Ings. Ings wriggled his way into space in the penalty area but Mads Bech came across to make a challenge and divert the shot wide. The next time Buendía and Ings linked, Villa were ahead.
The goal came 16 minutes in when a ball through the middle cut Brentford open. Buendía turned away from Christian Nørgaard and had space to run. He picked out a pass to Ings in the inside left channel. Ings steadied himself, fired across Álvaro Fernández and into the far corner. The shot was inch-perfect, Fernández was beaten, and Villa had a deserved lead.
The equalising goal came from an extended spell of possession that involved almost every Brentford player. The ball moved from right to left and back again repeatedly as The Bees probed. Eventually, there was space for Jensen to turn and play a pass for Roerslev to run in behind Ramsey on the right. He picked out Wissa with a pass inside and Villa were open. Wissa’s first touch opened the space and his second bent the ball around Konsa, around Martínez and into the corner.
To some extent, the goal came out of nothing, but Brentford were starting to take control of the game, finding space to play through midfield.
The Bees could have taken the lead with 15 minutes to go when Frank Onyeka won the ball in midfield. Toney fed the ball back into his path and he worked his way into the penalty area. Onyeka let fly with a shot that was arrowing towards the bottom corner, but Martínez got a hand to it and tipped it onto the post and behind.
Fernández saved an Ings header and moments later, Brentford were ahead. The Bees worked the ball down the left with interplay involving Toney, Ghoddos and Vitaly Janet. Ghoddos found Baptiste in space on the edge of the penalty area, and he slipped the ball to Roerslev. A fierce first shot was deflected and brilliantly saved by Martínez, but Roerslev reacted quickest to smash the loose ball back past the Villa goalkeeper and into the net.
Villa had seven minutes, plus stoppage time, to find a leveller and they pushed forward, Villa pressed, but Brentford stood firm and got the win.
