Dango Ouattara marked his Brentford debut in style as he scored the winner to hand his new club a hard-fought victory over a dreadful Aston Villa.
The £42.5million signing tucked away the only goal of the game after 13 minutes to give new boss Keith Andrews his first win as Brentford head coach.
Mikkel Damsgaard thought he’d bagged a second goal only for the referee to controversially rule it out for a foul on Emi Martinez.
Daily Mail Sport’s James Sharpe picks out the big talking points from the Gtech Stadium.
Who needs a Wissa replacement?
Dango Ouattara isn’t the Yoane Wissa replacement Brentford needed after all. He was the Bryan Mbeumo one.
Yet another Premier League match in which one team had to start in the absence of a leading man who would rather be somewhere else.
Dango Ouattara opened his account with Brentford after his transfer to the west London club
But the former Bournemouth star is no substitute Yoane Wissa – instead, he looks more like the departed Bryan Mbeumo
For Newcastle, that’s Alexander Isak. For Brentford, that’s Wissa. The striker wants to leave and was left out of the squad again. In a dramatic final act, he removed all references from Brentford from his Instagram page. Who comes back from that?
Wissa is frustrated that Brentford have not yet allowed him to go because he believed they would do once they signed his replacement. He thought the £42.5m signing of Dango Ouattara from Bournemouth was just that. Only, he was wrong.
As this gutsy 1-0 victory over a poor Aston Villa proved, in which Ouattara scored the winner in a dream debut, he is filling the boots of Mbeumo, now at Manchester United. Ouattara started off the right, feeding off Brazilian striker Thiago who led the Brentford line in the Wissa role.
Ouattara attacked the space down Villa’s left but it was his work off the ball that impressed Andrews. Ouattara never stopped running, he tracked back, man-marking Lucas Digne and often dropped into a back five whenever Villa pushed forward down his side.
‘His goal will get the headlines but for me it was the selfless nature of how he approached the game,’ said Andrews. ‘That was what we needed go get a result. I know he will be a big player for this club. His attributes are there for everyone to see and I think you’ll see more and more as we get more control of games. The out-of-possession shift he today was selfless. It was very, very impressive.’
When Ouattara was eventually subbed off with a few minutes left to go, he applauded each side of the stadium as he left the field and the home fans rose in union to return the favour.
VAR in the spotlight
It should have been even worse for Villa before half-time, had it not been for the generous officiating of Tony Harrington in disallowing Brentford a second – a decision that once again brought the game’s frustrating inconsistencies to the fore.
A long throw caused havoc in the Villa box, Emi Martinez came and flapped, punching it only as far as Mikkel Damsgaard who rifled his shot in off the cross bar while the Villa keeper crumpled to the floor and Harrington ruled it out for a foul on the goalkeeper by Bees skipper Nathan Collins.
Emi Martinez’s entanglement with Nathan Collins was caught by VAR but few incidences meet its high threshold
Brentford 1-0 Aston Villa: MATCH FACTS
BRENTFORD (4-2-3-1): Kelleher 7; Kayode 7.5 (Ajer 85), Collins 7.5, van den Berg 7, Lewis-Potter 7; Yarmoliuk 7.5 (Jenson 79), Henderson 7 (Onyeka 69, 6) ; OUATTARA 8 (Henry 84), Damsgaard 7.5, Schade 7 (Hickey 79); Thiago 7
Scorers: Ouattara 13
Booked: Kelleher
Manager: Keith Andrews 8
ASTON VILLA (4-2-3-1): Martinez 5.5; Cash 5, Torres 4.5, Mings 5, Digne 5 (Maatsen 64, 6.5); Onana 5.5 (Malen 64, 6), Kamara 6 (Buendia 16, 6 (Guessand 75)); McGinn 5 (Bogarde 74, 5.5), Tielemans 6, Rogers 5.5; Watkins 5
Booked: Onana, Bogarde
Manager: Unai Emery 5
Referee: Tony Harrington 5
Att: 16,838
VAR checked it and stuck with Harrington’s decision despite replays showing the faintest of touches on Martinez. Collins stood his ground and Martinez came hurtling over the top of him. It immediately brought to mind Arsenal’s winner against Manchester United on the opening weekend when William Saliba stood similarly close to Altay Bayindir and yet the goal was allowed to stand.
The PGMOL made it clear ahead of the season that the ‘referee’s call’ would continue to hold the greatest weight and here was yet another example of that bar for VAR intervention remaining ever-so-high.
Unsurprisingly, it left Harrington the least popular man in the Gtech. ‘Hallelujah,’ they chanted when he showed Villa midfielder Amadou Onana a yellow card in the second half.
Watkins isolated needs attackers
Villa were all over the shop. A tepid, impotent performance against Newcastle followed up with a ragged, wretched one at Brentford.
Ollie Watkins cut a frustrated figure once again. Villa had more than 75 per cent of the ball but, as it had against Newcastle, went dry.
He used to have Leon Bailey and Jacob Ramsey feeding him from out wide but they have both been sold to loosen the PSR shackles and yet to be replaced. Instead, he had John McGinn floating around on the right wing like a lost boy.
Villa were left relying on set-pieces and long throws against a Brentford side renowned for their set-pieces and long throws.
It was only once Ian Maatsen and Donyell Malen came on after the hour that Watkins got in the game. Of Villa’s 774 touches, Watkins had less than 30 – and nearly half of them came after they Maatsen and Malen came on and looked to attack down the flanks, getting balls into the box from wide areas and making the most of Watkins’ movement.
Ollie Watkins looked a man alone after Aston Villa sold on Leon Bailey and Jacob Ramsey
The introduction of Ian Maatsen (pictured) and Donyell Malen eased pressure but it was too little too late
But it was all too little, too late. When Tyrone Mings stood still with his foot on the ball inside the Brentford half in stoppage time, the groans and jeers from the Villa fans told you all you needed to know.
An unbalanced defence
It was the first time Villa centre-backs Tyrone Mings and Pau Torres had started a game together and couldn’t you just tell. Both left-footers, both prefer to be on the left side of the two, with the suspended right-footed Ezri Konsa on the other. In his absence, Mings started on the right and struggled with his distribution.
Neither could decide between themselves which of them should head clear Caoimhin Kelleher’s long ball forward for the opening goal, allowing centre-forward Thiago to win his flick on and set Ouattara clear.
‘We competed but it was not enough,’ said Villa boss Emery. ‘The first 20 minutes we weren’t playing with the intensity we needed. My message is to keep calm and move on and try to be strong in our mentality.’
More than a set-piece coach
Another headache for Emery but what a result for Andrews, who took his first step in showing people he’s more than just a set-piece coach, fitting though it was to watch the entire Brentford team practicing dead ball situations during the warm-up while Villa’s players went through passing drills.
For all their potency from set plays and, especially long throws, it was a clear game plan that saw Brentford over the line: allow Villa the ball inside their own half hit them hard and fast in wide areas when they won it back.
And when Villa tried to turn the screw in the second half and put the hosts under pressure, Andrews’s side threw their bodies behind the ball, dug deep and dragged themselves over the line.
