Ollie Watkins has singled out a Brentford fan for verbally abusing him “the whole match” after the Aston Villa striker’s match-winning goal celebration sparked a row on his return to his former club.
The England striker accused a fan of making abusive comments towards him and Telegraph Sport understands it was about his family. Others booed him despite his move to Villa in 2020 being a good thing. Brentford head coach Thomas Frank admitted he “couldn’t” do it. I couldn’t understand it until later.
“It was a bit of a feisty game, it all came down to me celebrating but it didn’t come from a lack of respect for the fans,” Watkins said after his 85th-minute winner, after several players from both teams were involved in two separate fights. .
“I love the club, the players and the staff, I have nothing bad to say about them. But there was one person who abused me throughout the match, the celebration was directed directly at him, not anyone else.
”[Thomas Frank] He asked me why I celebrated like this, I still text him but for this reason.
“I feel like I’ve done a lot for the club and they’ve done a lot for me, football is football and you can joke around a bit but when it’s personal it’s not like that. If the club doesn’t believe in me it’s up to them but I’ve explained that to Thomas and he knows I wouldn’t do it for no reason. “It made me uneasy, and that’s what happened.”
The red fog descended as the game suddenly went to single tackle. Brentford were 1-0 ahead in the 71st minute of a thrilling clash and were heading for victory against in-form title challengers Villa as Ben Mee attacked Leon Bailey. Referee David Coote gave a yellow card, but Var intervened and the yellow card was quickly changed to red.
Brentford head coach Frank came onto the pitch to complain and was penalized himself. “It wasn’t red,” he claimed. “Do we want physical contact sports or not?”
Six minutes later, Villa leveled when Leon Bailey crossed from deep and Jacob Ramsey was distracted, with Mads Roerslev failing to spot Alex Moreno eclipsing and slotting a slanting header past Mark Flekken for the Spaniard’s first Premier League goal.
And just eight minutes later, Villa won when Boubacar took Kamara Ramsey’s corner and Watkins came on to give his team their first victory in the Premier League since 1947. Then the madness started.
“Ollie is a person of high integrity,” Frank said. “I couldn’t understand why the fans were booing him.”
“I can’t explain what happened,” Villa head coach Unai Emery said. “I don’t understand you. “I thought (Ezri) Konsa scored.”
The game, which had been simmering with tension even before Mee’s ejection, escalated into two powerful melees involving almost every player. Coote let them blow themselves up before handing out a variety of yellow cards.
Neal Maupay, who had a penalty denied when he was sent off by Emiliano Martinez, was shown a yellow card for foolishly collecting the ball from the Argentine goalkeeper when he was a few meters away from the two and out of play. A few minutes later, Martinez returned the favor. Maupay remained on the ground as she made her anger clear. This was followed by another punch in which Kamara pushed Yehor Yarmoliuk and was sent off, Villa head coach Emery tried to calm Martinez down and became the second head coach to be booked.
“I was trying to calm my players down,” Emery said. “Emiliano was a little bit off. Tomorrow we will talk to the players about what happens when we lose control.”
“I didn’t like what happened at the end of the match,” Frank lamented. “Head coaches, fans and players need to show more class.
In addition to the wrestling, there was also a magnificent football match. Beating Manchester City and Arsenal in four dizzying days was a clear statement of Villa’s intent, but titles and Champions League slots were mainly secured by chopping down more mundane trees like Brentford. Brentford appeared to have found answers to questions that were extremely difficult for Arsenal and City.
Villa came with the understandable air of a team unbeaten since Bonfire Night and they were in a hurry, winning a series of early corners down the left where Roerslev struggled to contain Moreno’s fast and furious overlaps.
Unlike most of their peers, Brentford found a way to contain Villa. They defended deeply and slowly shifted despite Villa’s urgent pressure, converting their back three into a back five, while the excellent Christian Norgaard and Mikkel Damsgaard plugged Villa’s beloved midfield holes more expertly than Arsenal and Manchester City.
The game quickly turned into a rollercoaster. Brentford may have been awarded an early penalty when John McGinn wrestled with Mee, long before Martinez and Maupay combined.
Brentford then took the lead as the timetable added in the first half was removed by fourth official Simon Hooper. Saman Ghoddos was left in the corner. The ball deflected off Watkins’ arm and away from the goal. Moreno looked ready to clear the ball but as he swung his left foot, Keane Lewis-Potter tackled from behind to score his first league goal since joining from Hull City at the start of last season.
Until Mee’s sacking, Brentford looked increasingly comfortable, if not safe, as the minutes progressed, but with Mee gone the game would turn around.