Dango Ouattara’s “selfless” debut display saw Brentford edge Aston Villa 1-0 and make Bees fans forget all about the departed Bryan Mbeumo and the absent Yoane Wissa at a rocking Gtech.
The £42m arrival from Bournemouth gave the visiting defence, including Pau Torres – in for the suspended Ezri Konsa – a torrid afternoon as he linked up nicely with striker Igor Thiago, whose clever flick-on created the winner to hand Keith Andrews his first victory in charge of the Bees.
With Wissa once again absent from Brentford’s starting line-up as the forward tries to force through a move to Newcastle United before the summer window shuts on September 1, the way the home team’s three-man frontline gelled will give Andrews real hope for this season – despite all the pre-match gloom after their limp opening-day loss at Nottingham Forest.
Player ratings:
Brentford: Kelleher (7), Kayode (7), Van den Berg (7), Collins (8), Lewis-Potter (8), Yarmoliuk (7), Henderson (7), Damsgaard (9), Outtara (8), Schade (7), Thiago (7)
Subs: Hickey (6), Henry (6), Jensen (7), Onyeka (6), Ajer (6)
Aston Villa: Martinez (6), Cash (6), Mings (5), Torres (5), Digne (6), Onana (6), Kamara (6), Tielemans (7), Rogers (7), McGinn (6), Watkins (6)
Subs: Bogarde (6), Maatsen (6), Malen (6), Guessand (6)
Player of the Match: Mikkel Damsgaard
Returning playmaker Mikkel Damsgaard also reminded everyone of his importance to Brentford with a controlled first-half display in the middle of the park, almost capped off with a fine strike that was correctly disallowed for a foul by Nathan Collins on Emiliano Martinez in the build-up.
Team news
Yoane Wissa was still absent from the Brentford squad, but Mikkel Damsgaard returned in midfield following the birth of his child. Jordan Henderson made his first start and Dango Outtara came in on the right flank for his debut.
Aston Villa recalled Emiliano Martinez with the ‘keeper back from a ban after his sending-off at Old Trafford on the final day of last season. Pau Torres also got the nod in central defence, replacing the suspended Ezri Konsa.
Villa, meanwhile, were shot shy before the break after struggling in front of goal in their opening-day goalless draw at home to Newcastle United, mustering just one shot on target, only to improve markedly in the second period.
Image:
Nathan Collins impedes Emi Martinez, causing Mikkel Damsgaard’s strike to be ruled out
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But that elusive first goal of the new campaign evaded Unai Emery’s team as the hosts hung on for a first win of the season that moves them up to 10th in the table, while Villa are languishing down in 16th place after the opening two matches.
What the managers said…
Brentford boss Keith Andrews on Ouattara’s performance:
“His goal will get the headlines but for me, it was the aspects of the game, the selfless nature of how he approached the game, what was needed to get a result. If he didn’t stick to that it would have been very difficult to deal with them. He was amazing in the space of a few days.
Image:
Ouattara celebrates after giving Brentford a first-half lead against Aston Villa
” know he’ll be a big player for this club, his attributes are there for everyone to see. You’ll see that more as we get more control of games and feed him a bit more, but the out-of-possession shift he put in was selfless. Not too surprised though, right from the first moment I spoke to him I was really impressed with him.”
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery on his side’s display:
“We lost one match today because the first 20 minutes we weren’t really performing with the intensity we needed. After the goal we reacted, we dominated, we created some chances. They were defending and trying to get one transition. We avoided the attacking transition and we dominated.
“We need to keep working, build a team and be strong like the last three years – last year we needed time, this year is not how we wanted to start, we accept it though. We competed well with Newcastle and today it was not enough and we will try to clarify everything in the transfer window. Keep calm, work the same as we were doing is my message and be strong.”
Ouattara’s ‘selfless’ display lifts gloom over the Gtech
Analysis by Sky Sports’ Rich Morgan:
There was, understandably, some doom and gloom around the Gtech after Brentford saw Bryan Mbeumo leave for Manchester United this summer and then Yoane Wissa also ask to join Newcastle United, a double blow compounded by a limp opening-day loss at Nottingham Forest – but Dango Ouattara’s impressive debut in the win against Aston Villa has given the Bees and new head coach Keith Andrews a real spring in their step.
It did cost the west London club £42m to replace Mbeumo with the Bournemouth forward, but that looks money well spent on the basis of his match-winning display that saw off Villa on Saturday afternoon to give Andrews his first win as the new Bees boss.
Image:
Ouattara scores a debut goal to give Brentford the lead
It was not just the confident manner in which the 23-year-old took his goal after being played clean through by Igor Thiago’s clever flick that caught his boss’ eye.
But also the way the Burkina Faso international spent much of the rest of the game tracking back, man-marking Lucas Digne and going on to win more duels than any of his team-mates, before rightly receiving a standing ovation when he was substituted late on.
“His goal will get the headlines but for me, it was the aspects of the game, the selfless nature of how he approached the game, and knew what was needed to get a result,” Andrews said after the game.
“If he didn’t stick to that it would’ve been very difficult to deal with them. He was amazing in the space of a few days [since joining]. I know he’ll be a big player for this club, his attributes are there for everyone to see.
“You’ll see that more as we get more control of games and feed him a bit more, but the out of possession shift he put in was selfless. I’m not too surprised, right from the first moment I spoke to him I was really impressed with him.”
Played two, won none, scored none
Analysis by Sky Sports’ Ron Walker:
The third statistic should worry Aston Villa more than the second because results will not follow until Unai Emery’s side can look more dangerous.
For a second weekend in a row they were ineffective in front of goal and despite improving after a below-par first 45 at Brentford, managed just a solitary shot on target from their second-half showing.
Emery pointed out after the game that the backs-to-the-wall shift the Bees put in was reminiscent of each of his side’s visits to the Gtech since he took over.
But this victory for the hosts ended a six-game unbeaten streak for the Villans. Yes, these are normally tight affairs, but Villa normally have the guile to edge things.
It is easy to point to the loss of attacking players since the end of last season but this was still a line-up including Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans, with one of the Premier League’s most willing runners – and deadliest finishers – in attack.
On the odd occasion, patterns of play worked well and they looked dangerous. But something is not clicking, and it’s not just a lack of new faces.
Story of the match in stats…