As injury time approached, a sense of discomfort lingered.
Aston Villa were ahead. They had created more chances, enjoyed more possession and, on the overall balance of play, exerted greater control. If they had been a boxer, they would have reached round 12 winning on points having made their technical superiority count.
Yet Bournemouth, their opponents on Saturday, kept coming forward and slugging away with punches; often rudimentary and second best but, crucially, making Villa constantly work.
In the 96th and final minute, they finally landed a telling blow. Evanilson’s header salvaged a 1-1 draw in the final 10 seconds of the 96 minutes.
“They played better than us, we competed really well,” said Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola, perfectly succinctly.
Unai Emery insisted Villa had “played fantastic”, exploiting their opponents’ man-for-man pressing and breaking through the lines repeatedly. “For 90 minutes, we avoided their game plan,” he said.
Emery’s deliberate choice of words was aimed at choking questions implying these dropped points were a result of midweek Champions League exertions, akin to the goalless draw against Manchester United four days after that famous victory against Bayern Munich.
But, while physical levels remained high, a level of mental fatigue was discernible. It resulted in a slight — though decisive — dip in concentration. Bournemouth hurled bodies forward and had renewed purpose through their substitutions. Villa were left clinging on, a phenomenon rarely witnessed in Emery’s two years in charge.
“Emotionally, we need to control ourselves when the opponent is pushing and you are 1-0 up,” said Emery.
Presciently, Emery had warned against Bournemouth’s set-piece threat 24 hours earlier. He focused on limiting the concession of general dead-ball situations, acknowledging Bournemouth, like Villa, boast a catalogue of innovative routines.
Yet this was a fixture designed to test the hosts psychologically. There was an inevitable comedown after another midweek Champions League triumph. The visit of a team like Bournemouth, unfairly still viewed as top-flight minnows, hardly felt like a grand occasion. The contingent in the away end was only small but could be heard throughout, seemingly aware of the flat atmosphere inside Villa Park.
The visitors possessed the perfect style to exploit any shortcomings. No Premier League side has scored more goals from the 70th minute onwards (now seven) this season, while they have made the joint-highest number of tackles in the final third (32) with Tottenham Hotspur.
Bournemouth are a team who thrive on chaos, provoking turnovers in the attacking half. The 13 bookings amassed by the teams were not a reflection of the game’s tempestuousness but, rather, the visitors’ combative nature in wanting, as Emery described, “active duels” all over the pitch.
Bournemouth pressed feverishly, going man-for-man and following their direct opponent into any and every area.
Right-back Julian Araujo often found himself in central midfield tracking Jacob Ramsey, with winger Dango Ouattara (the Bournemouth player circled at the top of the graphic below) at right-back to stay goal side of the overlapping Lucas Digne.
A “perfect 30 minutes,” according to Emery prompted Iraola to make a tactical substitution before half-time — the first of his managerial career. He took off Araujo and replaced him with Adam Smith.
Araujo had been unsure whether to mark Ramsey and follow centrally or cover the space. Although the change reduced Ramsey’s threat, the build-up to Villa’s goal came through him dropping deeper and driving at Smith.
“I put Julian in the most difficult game for a right-back you can find in the Premier League,” said Iraola. “I told Adam to identify better when to leave the space and not go man to man, because Villa will exploit the space with Digne or Ollie Watkins behind. Sometimes you have to stay in the space.
“They always play like this. Unai was doing this at previous teams so everyone knows what they are going to do, but it’s difficult to defend because of the timing (when to press) and the way they turn their players in the middle. I think Adam — probably because he has suffered it before in previous games against them — used his experience.”
Even if Bournemouth’s expected goals (xG) total of 0.3 was not suggestive of sustained pressure, data does not take into account the true measure of psychological stress, which became palpable among Villa players.
Just after the hour mark, Ezri Konsa fell to the ground.
Bournemouth had harried him and Villa’s back line were struggling to play the same press-breaking passes as they had earlier on. The England international slowly rose to his feet. Instead of playing from defence again, he gestured for Emiliano Martinez to take the free kick and go long.
Increasingly, Villa went direct, ceding possession and control. This was inflated after taking the lead; they were stuck in a vicious cycle of going long, only to invite pressure back on themselves.
This was at odds with what Emery expected. He had, in no uncertain terms after a stoppage-time defeat against Arsenal in February 2023, told his defenders and goalkeeper to stop kicking long. In a post-match debrief, he furiously highlighted every instance and demanded a change in mentality.
Emery gestured for calm yet his side appeared panicked.
Penalty appeals against Matty Cash and Leon Bailey may have gone in Villa’s favour, but they underlined the growing rashness in their play. Cash and Antoine Semenyo were caught in a constant ding-dong with scuffles, words exchanged and the desire to pull each other’s shirt whenever possible. Around 45 per cent of Bournemouth’s attacks came down Villa’s right and they started winning regular fouls and corners.
In the 94th minute, Cash pulled back Semenyo and conceded a free kick out on the flank. That came to nothing, sailing over the mass of bodies in the penalty area, but Villa did not heed the warning. Two minutes later, Ross Barkley made a desperate lunge in the same area of the pitch. Bournemouth decided to aim the resultant free kick toward the near post and win the first contact, cutting Martinez out of the game.
Evanilson did and the visitors were level.
For Villa, the goal was punishment for the sloppy concession of the free kick and a failure to mark tighter in the box.
Earlier in the game, when minds were fresher, they might have been more alert. As it was, these were dropped points from a tight game’s last exchange.
When the margins are so taut, any issues with mental fatigue are exaggerated.
(Top photo: Jacob King/PA Images via Getty Images)
