Aston Villa 2 Leeds United 1
For Emiliano Martínez, this chilly evening in Aston must have felt strangely reminiscent of the World Cup on the Persian Gulf last month. There was the magnificent point-blank save to deny Jack Harrison and Leeds a certain equaliser on the brink of half-time; a replica of the free-kick from which Wout Weghorst, the Netherlands striker who has just joined Manchester United, scored to force extra-time in the quarter-final; there were the dark arts that infuriated Jesse Marsch on the touchline. And, ultimately, there was a sweet victory at the end of it all.
The Leeds substitute Patrick Bamford, who underwent groin surgery in Munich last month, stepped off the bench to strike but it proved nothing more than a consolation after goals by Leon Bailey and Emi Buendía earned Villa victory. For Unai Emery, it is now 13 points from six Premier League games, eclipsing Steven Gerrard’s total in the first 13 matches of the season. For Leeds, the worrying run continues; they have won two of their past 17 matches in all competitions.
[ Premier League tableOpens in new window ]
Leeds got off to a dreadful start when Bailey cut inside Diego Llorente and curled a shot into the far corner with less than three minutes gone. The galling thing was that it was a goal that stemmed from a Leeds corner. An unmarked Marc Roca swiped at thin air when attempting to convert Harrison’s cross and Ashley Young located Boubacar Kamara, who excelled at the base of the Villa midfield. Kamara ploughed upfield into the Leeds half before turning Brendan Aaronson and picking out Bailey, whose crisp left-foot finish sent the home support wild.
Emery was forced into two first-half changes with Lucas Digne and Ollie Watkins forced off inside half an hour and Leeds should have gone in at least level at the interval. Aaronson played the role of Teun Koopmeiners as Leeds attempted to recreate Weghorst’s strike in Qatar and passed the ball to Rodrigo but, under pressure from Douglas Luiz, the forward could not get a clean shot away. Villa squandered a chance to double their lead when Bailey, played in superbly by Young, overcooked a simple pass that would have presented Watkins with a simple finish.
Instead Villa regressed, inviting pressure and Leeds twice went close to levelling before the break. Álex Moreno’s momentum took him towards the advertising hoardings after his sliding intervention to prevent Rodrigo from a certain goal after the Leeds striker rounded Martínez and three minutes later the Villa and Argentina goalkeeper superbly denied Harrison.
Tyler Adams shifted the ball wide to Luke Ayling, whose brilliant first-time volleyed cross landed at the back post. Harrison expected to prod the ball home but Martínez had other ideas. Martínez was soon soaking up high-fives from his team-mates and Tyrone Mings, again impressive at centre back, bumped chests with his goalkeeper.
Throughout a lively contest Marsch went ballistic at Jarred Gillett, the fourth official who refereed his side’s FA Cup draw at Cardiff last Sunday, about Villa’s apparent time-wasting. Martínez was eventually booked by the referee, Michael Oliver, but Marsch was fighting a losing battle.
When Marsch found fault with Young in the first half, the experienced Villa defender proceeded to take even longer to take a throw-in on halfway. Marsch’s only change from the team that drew against West Ham in their last league game was to promote Harrison to his starting line-up.
Moreno had a chance to cap a fine debut with a goal after a give-and-go with the returning Jacob Ramsey and Villa did increase their advantage when Buendía pounced on the rebound of Bailey’s powerful strike.
Illan Meslier got his left hand to Bailey’s drive but, despite getting his right hand to the ball, the Leeds goalkeeper could not prevent Buendía’s header from looping over him. Bamford struck on his first appearance since October but Villa held on to record victory. – Guardian
