Brentford 2-1 Aston Villa

Aston Villa opened 2022 with a 2-1 defeat as Brentford came from behind to claim all three points.

Danny Ings put Villa in control when he registered his fourth goal of the season in the 16^th minute, only for Yoane Wissa to level matters from the edge of the penalty area before the break.

The hosts completed the turnaround late on as Mads Roerslev fired home a rebound from his initial effort in the 83^rd minute, inflicting defeat upon Villa’s first visit to Brentford Community Stadium.

It was only a second reverse under head coach Steven Gerrard in his eighth match at the helm, as the Villans extended their winless sequence against the Bees to eight matches since 1953.

One positive in the early January encounter saw the welcome return of Trézéguet as a late substitute following his recovery from knee ligament damage in April last year.

Gerrard, back in the dugout after being absent on Boxing Day due to COVID-19, made a total of three changes in west London.

Kortney Hause replaced the suspended Tyrone Mings at centre-back, John McGinn came in for Morgan Sanson and took the captain’s armband while Bertrand Traoré was named in the starting XI, with Ollie Watkins not included in the matchday squad against his former club.

Villa started positively and Ings issued a warning to the Bees defence when he broke through the backline in the 12^th minute before seeing his shot blocked.

But he was not to be denied four minutes later as Buendía played a one-two with Douglas Luiz, turned superbly to get away from his man and send clear Ings, who directed a well-taken left-footed strike across Alvaro Fernandez and into the far corner.

McGinn fired off target in the 28^th minute as the visitors continued to dominate.

But the hosts drew level shortly before half-time, Wissa receiving the ball from Roerslev and curling a shot beyond Emi Martínez from the edge of the area.

The encounter remained level at the break, with both sides scoring from their sole shot on target in the opening 45 minutes.

Buendía sent a long-range strike narrowly wide of the far post shortly after the restart as both sides battled for supremacy.

Gerrard made his first change of the afternoon in the 69^th minute, Sanson replacing Jacob Ramsey.

Martínez made a superb low save to deny Frank Onyeka, getting down smartly to tip his effort on to the outside of a post.

Trézéguet made his long-awaited return in the 80th minute, introduced in place of Traoré, with both players set to depart on Monday for international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt and Burkina Faso respectively.

Ings saw his header kept out before the Bees struck the decisive blow in the 83^rd minute, Roerslev first to react and slam home the rebound after his initial effort was kept out by Martínez.

Ings was thwarted by Fernandez as the visitors looked for a quick response before Buendía was also denied by the Brentford goalkeeper, with Villa beaten in what was only the 16^th meeting between the two sides.