Youri Tielemans took to the field with the aim of asserting his impact in the midfield. However, he was frustrated for the second game in a row as Aston Villa failed to score again. A clash with Crystal Palace is on the horizon, and he took the chance to remind any stragglers that "last season is gone."
‘It’s up to us to do better next time’
The guests started too slowly at the Gtech Community Stadium. Mikkel Damsgaard dug a way between Matty Cash and **Boubacar Kamara**into the box before putting an effort wide of the post.
Before the first fifteen minutes were over, Dango Ouattara raced onto a knockdown and marked his debut with a goal, punishing another lapse of focus in a sloppy phase for Tielemans' teammates.
“Disappointed about the result. We know we can do better. We just want to show ourselves out there, and we didn’t do that today. We’re going to have to analyse the game and see what was missing.”
With 76% of the ball, the Villans would have expected to be a little less stale in their bid to equalise. **Youri Tielemans**saw a strike from distance blocked before Morgan Rogers and **Emi Buendia**failed to hit the target from fast attacks in a stronger second half. A tally of two shots on target from the visitors was the same for Brentford, and the midfielder made clear that their efficiency was poor.
“It’s true that some moments we were playing a bit too slow and could’ve done some better actions. Just the last pass or the last shot was missing. They defended well as well, so credit to them for their good defending, and it’s up to us to do better next time.”
The Belgian has been a big part of the growth in the group since he arrived on a free transfer from Leicester City in 2023. The Villans had turned around a poor start to the season to finish in the top seven, then, with him in their ranks, they qualified for the Champions League for the first time.
Last year, he earned the reward of Players' Player of the Season in the squad as the Villans narrowly ended up in sixth spot, reached the **FA Cup**semi-final, and came close to knocking out **Paris Saint-Germain**in the Champions League. But none of those markers matter at all in a new campaign.
“Last season is gone. It’s up to us to do better, to improve as a team and just get wins in. We have to learn, improve and hopefully get a week of good work and get a win next week.”