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Aston Villa 1-2 Bournemouth | Talking Points

AFC Bournemouth held out at Villa Park to record their first win of the season capitalising on two Aston Villa mistakes inside the first 10 minutes of play.

Villa’s dream home return to the Premier League turned into a nightmare after 41 seconds, when Tom Heaton clumsily tripped Callum Wilson in the box. The resulting penalty was converted by Josh King to give the Cherries an early lead.

Bournemouth’s lead was doubled 10 minutes later when debutant Harry Wilson capitalised on Douglas Luiz’s mistake and fired a deflected shot into the Villa net.

Aston Villa showed promise and intent with a dominant second-half display, which saw Luiz atone for his mistake by curling in a fantastic goal from 30 yards.

The Brazilian’s effort was ultimately not enough to salvage a point for the Premier League new boys, as Bournemouth’s solid defence kept them at bay. The Cherries came away from Villa Park with a 2-1 victory and their first win of the 2019/20 campaign.

Too many mistakes?

Villa have shown promise over their first two games in the Premier League. A solid defensive display for 60 minutes against Tottenham and a dominant second half against Bournemouth will no doubt have Villa fans feeling a little hard done by with zero points on the board. However, mistakes do not go unpunished in this league and the Villans have found this out the hard way.

As always in football, luck has a part to play. Bournemouth could have seen two early mistakes from Steve Cook and Charlie Daniels punished, however, they escaped with all three points. On another day the result may well have been different.

Villa have conceded four goals directly from mistakes in their first two games. Harry Kane capitalised upon two mistakes in Villa’s opener to secure his brace, whilst Josh King and Harry Wilson both punished Villa for their sloppiness on Saturday.

It is fair to say that if Dean Smith’s side had not made these mistakes, there is a fair chance they would have some Premier League points next to their name. If these mistakes continue to be made, it could be a long, hard season for the Midlands side.

Have the Cherries sorted their defence?

Bournemouth showed defensive solidity in their victory against Villa. Aston Villa had 63% possession, 22 shots and 10 corners, however, the Cherries defence stood strong and held out. Mammoth displays from both Nathan Ake and Steve Cook will give Eddie Howe and the Bournemouth faithful hope that they can overcome the defensive woes which saw them underachieve last campaign.

Within the game, it was clear to see that Bournemouth had worked on their defensive structure. After scoring two early goals, the Cherries sat back and absorbed almost all that Villa could throw at them.

An emphatic last man block from Ake to deny Trezeguet his first Premier League goal epitomised the defensive spirit Bournemouth played with. If it wasn’t for a wondergoal from Luiz, Bournemouth would have come away from Villa Park with a well-earned clean sheet.

Time will tell whether Bournemouth have tidied up their defence this season. The Bournemouth faithful will be wondering whether this is the turning point, especially after seeing their team give up a late lead last week. The Cherries will face one of their biggest challenges next week, as they host Manchester City

Have Villa invested in the wrong areas?

Despite spending a reported £130m this summer, Villa’s lack of attacking options showed against Bournemouth. Both Wesley and Anwar El Ghazi showed glimpses of their ability, yet looked uninspiring for the majority of the game. Trezeguet looked creative and exciting, however, he fluffed a golden chance to draw a goal back for the Villans on the stroke of half time.

Two of Villa’s best chances in the second half fell to left-back Neil Talyor, who found himself in the box, rather than any of Villa’s attacking players. Smith brought on new signing Jota and youngster Keinan Davis late on, who both failed to impact the game.

Smith’s side dominated the second half and had a plethora of clearcut chances, none of which were put away. Villa’s two goals this season have come from central midfielders, only further reflecting their offensive fragility. It is evident that a lack of goals leads to relegation and Smith will be hoping his forwards can get firing very soon.

Is VAR reliable?

There is no doubt that Phillip Billing should have seen red for Bournemouth in the first half against Villa. After being booked midway through the half following a challenge on McGinn, Billing continued to carry out card worthy challenges, including a dangerous mistimed tackle on Villa captain Jack Grealish. The offence was reviewed by VAR, which controversially allowed Billing to stay on the pitch. Aston Villa fans will feel hard done by, especially after their penalty appeal against John McGinn last week at Spurs.

The question has to be raised whether VAR is reliable, after multiple questionable decisions across the first two Gameweeks. For an implementation which is meant to take subjective decisions out of the game, VAR has arguably caused more controversy in its first weeks than if it wasn’t implemented.

For the time being, VAR will continue to be used, however, if more controversial decisions arise, many more fans will certainly start to question whether it should continue to feature in the Premier League.

Captain Fantastic?

Following Bournemouth’s triumph against Villa this Saturday, Jack Grealish now has the unwanted record of being the first Premier League player to lose 20 consecutive games.

This statistic does not reflect the ability of the young Englishman, as 18 of those appearances came from the bench before Aston Villa were relegated in 2016, whilst Grealish was only 20 years old. Grealish has matured over his three years with Villa in the Championship into a talented captain who will no doubt be in Southgate’s mind come Euro 2020.

Statistics aside, Grealish hasn’t performed to the best of his ability so far this campaign, having two lacklustre appearances. As the Villa captain, fans will be expecting him to lead his boyhood club to Premier League security. Despite registering an assist against Bournemouth, these kinds of performances have not been seen from Grealish so far.

The question must be raised whether captaincy should be given to a more experienced member of the team, allowing Grealish to get on with his game which the Villa faithful all know and love.

Up Next

Aston Villa will look to secure their first Premier League points under the Friday night lights of Villa Park as they face European contenders Everton. AFC Bournemouth will look to continue their strong defensive display against arguably the toughest opposition in the league, the reigning champions Manchester City.

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