Aston Villa fought with ten men to hold onto a point at Villa Park. In some senses, it was a good point against a fellow contender for Europe, but most of the first hour belonged to the guests, whose strength in "duels", "second actions", and "long balls" continued to bully the men of Unai Emery.
‘After the red card, the match changed’
The Villans have not lost at home since a 2-0 defeat against **Arsenal**in their opening home fixture of last campaign. Emery expressed his gratitude to the fans for the fortress they have built together.
“Grateful for our supporters. Full stadium, the first match we were, everybody, motivated and excited to start here winning. Of course, this is the 22nd match not losing at home and it is very good as well to achieve it, but to have lost like we did today, two points at home, maybe is not the best thing.”
The Toon were without Alexander Isak, whose standoff with the club continues. But except for the finishing touch, the first fifteen was the same as ever from Eddie Howe and his men. Anthony Elanga messed up a 1 v 1, and Harvey Barnes might have won a penalty in an energetic start.
“I am not happy only achieving one point, but how it was going the match, and against the opponent we have, we have to accept it at the end of the match. The first half we played not dominating the match like we had planned, getting into duels, beaten. Defensively, were not stopping them.”
He also acknowledged how the intensity and physicality from the guests grabbed hold of the midfield.
“They were playing a lot of long balls, second actions and they are so strong as a team doing it. We didn’t concede a lot, but very good chances they had, and our goalkeeper saved fantastic, Marco.”
Marco Bizot was busy between the sticks on his debut, and the outfield players responded after the break. There were no shots to their name by half time, the first time this had happened to a home team in the league since May 2024, but a header inside 90 seconds from Boubacar Kamara set the tone.
“The second half we changed a bit. We tried to do more passes, some positions on the pitch tactically we corrected and we started very well the first 15 minutes. We were dominating more, in the final third more than in the first half and the fullbacks were getting higher. We were confident of winning.”
The momentum swung again when a misplaced cross from Matty Cash fell for Elanga. He saw Anthony Gordon running free from Ezri Konsa on the shoulder, and the defender pulled the makeshift striker. The incident produced a red card and forced the hosts to focus on their stability.
“After the red card, the match changed completely. Of course, in my mind, we had to try to get one transition and to score one goal to win. But firstly, we needed defensively to set a high commitment.”
The defensive discipline and concentration merited praise from the Basque after the final whistle.
“Everybody was in their task, and they did it. And, of course, we didn’t concede a lot of chances. More or less, we were defending a lot of corners, and I think we have to accept this result. The mentality to respond to everything happened was very important especially with one less man.”