Jhon Duran's three acts of kindness and what Unai Emery knows Villa must improve after Bournemouth draw
Aston Villa dropped two points right at the very death against Bournemouth as Evanilson's header denied Unai Emery's side what would have been their sixth Premier League win of the season.
Villa still extended their unbeaten run to 11 matches in all competitions, but it was a painful goal to concede deep into second half added time. Ross Barkley had put Villa in front in the 76th minute, scoring his first goal of the season after coming on for Amadou Onana for the start of the second half.
Ian Maatsen, who was introduced in the 71st minute alongside Leon Bailey, picked the winger out inside the box, before Barkley prodded the ball past Mark Travers. But in the sixth minute of added time, after Barkley made a foul out wide, Evanilson glanced Marcus Tavernier's cross past Emi Martinez.
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Here are the talking points from the 1-1 draw...
NOT A CHAMPIONS LEAGUE HANGOVER
The stalemate Villa played out against Manchester United earlier this month was certainly a hangover from the memorable victory over Bayern Munich a few days before, but the same can't be said for the draw against Bournemouth.
Villa did more than enough to win the game and performed to a very high level for most of the match. They were made to pay for a sloppy final 10 minutes where they lost control. Bournemouth smelt blood and took advantage of it late on, but that had little or no relation to beating Bologna in midweek.
"We played a fantastic match," Emery said after full-time. "We played I think the best minutes since the start of the season. The first half we controlled the game. At the beginning we were dominating and creating chances. We didn't score, or when we did it was a no goal.
"The second half we started even better than the first half. We were pushing, dominating, creating chances. The goalkeeper was saving a lot of times.
"We scored the goal, fantastic, but we didn't manage the last 10 minutes. We didn't manage because they are a very competitive team always playing to win corners and chances, force mistakes. They scored in the last moment and we have to accept it. But we were fantastic again, really I'm very happy.
"Of course we are very demanding in our own way, but we are having a fantastic season. Today we only got one point and of course we deserved three points, but football is like that, and from the last 10 minutes they deserved to get something and they got it."
WHAT VILLA MUST IMPROVE
Villa haven't lost control of a game so quickly in a long time. Their game management was poor after Barkley's goal, allowing Bournemouth to pile on the pressure for the first time in the match.
Antoine Semenyo was booked for simulation after Matty Cash dived in on him in the box, before the referee waved away calls for a handball from Leon Bailey. Both were correct decisions, but Villa were living dangerously.
Before facing Villa, Bournemouth had scored an unsurpassed six goals from the 70th minute onwards in the Premier League this season. After bagging yet another late goal, Villa have now failed to win each of their last three home league matches when scoring the first goal, having won their previous 17 such games in a row beforehand.
"We try to avoid our opponents getting to our box, try to avoid conceding corners," Emery said. "Teams like Bournemouth their style is so direct, quickly getting to the opposition box.
"We made a mistake in our focus because maybe we were tired, not focused 100 per cent. This is one thing I know we have to improve."
HUNGRY TO PUT IT RIGHT
The last time Villa drew to Bournemouth, they went on to beat Man City and Arsenal back-to-back, before following those results up with a win at Brentford. Obviously it's a stretch to suggest that they'll now turn over Tottenham and Liverpool on the road in their next two, but it proves that Emery's side are capable of bouncing back from an underwhelming or otherwise disappointing result.
Villa defeated Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal away from home last term, but lost to Manchester City and Liverpool. The Reds look like they could well be title contenders this season, but even though Tottenham have the chance to claim their fourth win in five league games this afternoon, Villa will head to north London on Sunday confident of getting a result.
Emery's side have won on their last two trips to Tottenham and owe them one after losing 4-0 at Villa Park earlier this year. Three points there would go some way to healing the pain fans felt after watching Evanilson deny them three points on Saturday afternoon.
The Villa squad will be hungry to get a result against Spurs considering the manner of their draw with the Cherries.
"The changing room is disappointed and there are a lot of frustrated faces because to concede a late goal like that, we work on that on the training ground," Barkley said about the late goal after full-time. "We will take lessons from that.
"We have had plenty of chances to put them away but it is what it is and we have to build on this. It hurts because of conceding a late goal and we want to keep clean sheets to keep fighting and achieve a successful season. We will work on it."
DURAN STARS IN PRIZE WHERE IT LIES
Jhon Duran didn't manage to get on the score sheet on Saturday, despite being presented with a golden opportunity to do so shortly before Barkley broke the deadlock, but he still won the hearts of the Villa faithful. And it came in Prize where it Lies! That's right, the fan favourite half-time game.
Three youngsters have the chance to win prizes by kicking the ball from the byline all the way to the halfway line, where a large target shaped banner will is laid out. The banner has several segments and a bulls eye, with each segment or bulls eye representing a different prize that the fan can win.
On Saturday, Duran helped each three participants win prizes as he rolled the ball onto the signed shirt segment and then the prize rewards wedge for the second attempt. The third taker saw their effort stop just short of the banner, so Duran picked the ball up and placed it onto the signed shirt block.
CLARET & BLUE VERDICT