Aston Villa 2 West Bromwich Albion 2
West Brom’s rickety defence cost them again, as Keinan Davis pounced on an error by Kyle Bartley to salvage a draw for Aston Villa. The result does little good to either side, least of all Sam Allardyce’s, who really need three points to sustain faint hopes of dodging relegation.
Anwar El Ghazi gave the hosts an early lead by converting a penalty before Matheus Pereira did likewise to pull West Brom level. The visitors created more chances before going in front when Tyrone Mings deflected a shot by Mbaye Diagne into his own net. But they could not hold on.
One of Allardyce’s problems is that the improvements he has been able to inspire since his appointment in December have been more than offset by upturns in the results of the clubs his team are trying to overhaul.
Burnley continued that trend earlier on Sunday by winning at Wolves, meaning West Brom made the short journey to Villa Park knowing their survival chances had been downgraded from slim to barely extant.
But West Brom also knew that assessment would be tweaked again if they won at Villa, whose form cannot have intimidated them. Although Dean Smith’s side have undeniably evolved this season they remain heavily reliant on Jack Grealish, whose injury in February puts the skids on Villa’s drive for Europe. They went into this derby having collected just nine points from the 27 available since losing their resident genius.
In his search for solutions, Smith gave a first league start since February to Ross Barkley, whose fading into the background after making a bright start to his season-long loan from Chelsea has been one of the most disappointing features of Villa’s campaign. On a happier note, Villa were able to include Wesley on the bench for the first time since the striker tore knee ligaments on New Year’s Day 2020.
Both sides made a perky start but West Brom fell behind in less than eight minutes after their latest defensive mistake in a season when they have been slipshod far too often. Semi Ajayi’s misjudgement here was by no means the most egregious but it amounted to a needless foul in the box, as the centre-back, brought back into the team instead of Dara O’Shea, clipped Barkley after being beaten to a loose ball after Conor Gallagher blocked a shot by El Ghazi. That shot came at the end of an excellent move by Villa featuring several cute touches by Ollie Watkins.
West Brom are El Ghazi’s favourite opponents and the Dutchman sent Sam Johnstone the wrong way from the spot to claim his fifth goal from six matches against them, more than he has managed against any other English team.
Villa failed to build on that start. Pereira threatened to equalise almost immediately but curled a free-kick just over the bar from the edge of the box. He soon got a much better opportunity when Ezri Konsa, nigh-on flawless for most of this season, was harshly penalised for tapping Ainsley Maitland-Niles’s ankle. Pereira took full advantage from the spot.
That lifted the visitors. They nearly helped themselves to the lead two minutes later when Okay Yokuslu – again quietly commanding in central midfield – met a free-kick by Pereira but guided a header inches wide of the far post.
Villa became dishevelled, their midfield made to look scruffy and one-paced as West Brom grew slicker. Emiliano Martínez had to bat away a shot from 18 yards by Maitland-Niles after more good work by Pereira, who, two minutes later, beat the keeper with an inswinging free-kick from the left, only for it to bounce out off the crossbar.
Half-time did not help Villa. Less than two minutes after the restart West Brom took the lead as Konsa’s evening took a turn for the worse. The defender slipped after taking down a punt by Johnstone, allowing Diagne to run on to the ball and into the left-hand side of the penalty area. Tyrone Mings slid in to block the striker’s low shot from 10 yards but could only divert it into the net.
Villa eventually found fluency. Matt Targett, curbed by Pereira in the first half, was as creative as any home player with his bursts down the left. His cross in the 58th minute found its way to Barkley, whose shot from 18 yards was deflected wide. Ahmed El Mohamady then forced a save from Johnstone with a terrific volley from similar range. Bertrand Traoré struck the outside of the post from an acute angle. Watkins could have scored after being sent clear by John McGinn but fired straight at Johnstone.
Both teams struck posts in a frantic last 20 minutes before Davis punished West Brom in stoppage-time. – Guardian
