Ollie Watkins scored against his former club Brentford again to boost Aston Villa’s European hopes with a gritty 1-0 victory.
Watkins struck his sixth goal in seven games against Brentford since leaving the club in 2020 as Villa moved up to seventh, one point behind sixth-placed Brighton.
The 29-year-old striker raced down the hosts’ right four minutes into the second half and was allowed to drive into the box before sending a low shot that flicked off Nathan Collins’ right shin and through the legs of goalkeeper Mark Flekken.
Emiliano Martinez and Marco Asensio were missing for Aston Villa with muscle injuries. Robin Olsen started in goal, with Jacob Ramsey replacing Marcus Rashford on the left.
Watkins did not celebrate the goal, which was in stark contrast to this fixture last season when he pointed at a home supporter after netting Villa’s winner because of “personal abuse” he received during the match.
Villa showed two sides to their game, playing with composure and class in the first half before defending resolutely for most of the second.
Brentford improved significantly after Morgan Rogers’ strike was ruled out for offside by VAR within 60 seconds of Watkins’ goal.
Tyrone Mings and Axel Disasi made several crucial blocks and tackles to prevent an equaliser although the latter clumsily cleaned out Kevin Schade and team-mate Matty Cash after slipping in the box and survived another penalty appeal when Schade went down under pressure.
“It’s a penalty, the first one,” said Brentford manager Thomas Frank. “Disasi is clearly taking him out, as far as I know you’re not allowed to do that. The second one is more soft, and we want a higher threshold on penalties, but you still go through the back of him, you can’t do that, anywhere else on the pitch would be a foul.”
Today’s Premier League results:
Nottingham Forest 1 vs Manchester City 0
Brighton & Hove Albion 2 vs Fulham 1
Crystal Palace 1 vs Ipswich Town 0
Liverpool 3 vs Southampton 1
Brentford 0 vs Aston Villa 1