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It was always going to be difficult to follow up the high of booking a Europa League final place for Aston Villa but a tired draw at Burnley fell below expectations. This was supposed to be the day Villa all-but-secured Champions League football by beating an already-relegated team but instead were held on an entertaining afternoon at Turf Moor .
Villa are four points clear of sixth-placed Bournemouth with Liverpool and Manchester City to come, making this a missed opportunity, even if they do have the backup of facing Freiburg for a place at Europe’s top table. Jaidon Anthony and Zian Flemming sandwiched goals from Ross Barkley and Ollie Watkins, ensuring Villa cannot afford to completely rest for the remainder of the domestic season.
“Very, very happy with the performance and result,” Unai Emery said. “It’s been difficult to be fifth in the league on matchday 36. Very, very difficult. It’s fantastic to be where we are. And now our objective is to be top five, and to be top five in the Premier League, for us is something fantastic. And today the point is not enough, I know it’s not enough but I know the difficulty to achieve three points here.”
The Villa weariness was understandable as Emery made only three changes, knowing the importance of a victory in Lancashire, and they started very slowly. Emiliano Martínez swung joyfully from the crossbar after the thrashing of Nottingham Forest on Thursday night to celebrate reaching the Europa League final but he was left sullen under it at Turf Moor when he palmed Lesley Ugochukwu’s tame shot straight to Anthony to fire home. It was the first time Burnley had led at home in four months and the crowd were unsure how to celebrate.
It offered a brief pause to the pre-Istanbul party in the away end, which provided some noise in a sparsely populated ground. Villa were giving the travelling contingent little to enjoy, putting in a pedestrian performance. Burnley dropped very deep, content with their surprise opener, and laid down the challenge to Villa to find a way through walls of claret. Villa were not just blunt, they had left the knives in Birmingham.
Burnley provided plenty of energy in one of their better showings, and Flemming should have doubled the lead when Ezri Konsa slipped as he failed to deal with a cross from the lively Loum Tchaouna but the forward produced a panicked finish.
Youri Tielemans deemed it his role to provide inspiration amid an insipid Villa performance. It was his cross which found John McGinn but his pull back was scuffed wide by Ross Barkley. At least Villa had found a method of threatening. Soon after the Belgian tested Max Weiss on his Premier League debut, forcing him to tip a dipping 25-yard shot over as Villa finally found a way into the game for them to wake up.
Watkins felt he had equalised, only to have a header ruled out for offside but there was little need to worry. Within moments of the red lines being projected, Villa were level thanks to a straightforward corner routine as Barkley flicked home McGinn’s delivery at the front post.
The sides put on a sloppy quarter of an hour after the break. Burnley, however, choreographed a fine move when Hannibal Mejbri was sent clear down the right but his drilled cross had too much power for Flemming, who could only graze the ball with his studs when sliding in.
Once again Flemming’s near miss was rued. It was another simple plan as Martínez punted the ball down field, Axel Tuanzebe and Maxime Estève failed to deal with the long pass, and Weiss did not possess the gumption to take control, allowing Watkins to slide in the second.
At the third time of asking, Flemming did punish Villa. Mejbri produced a delightful flick in the box to the forward who found space and sidefooted home to reach double figures. “Istanbul? You’re having a laugh” came the chant from the home fans.
“Zian’s been incredible, he makes the most out of what he’s got,” Mike Jackson, Burnley’s interim head coach, said. “It’s brilliant to score 10 goals in the Premier League, especially in a team that’s been relegated.”
The game became open in the final 20 minutes as Burnley chased a first home win since October and Villa wanted to put a foot in the Champions League but neither could source their own glory.
