Watkins equalises late as Aston Villa draw with Bournemouth

Updated: Dec 3, 2023, 05:04 pm

A late goal from Ollie Watkins grabbed a point for Aston Villa in a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth after a pulsating, end-to-end Premier League clash on Sunday.

Bournemouth took the lead in the 10th minute through Antoine Semenyo, and he could have had a second six minutes later, but Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez was able to turn away his shot form a tight angle.

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Villa levelled 10 minutes later when Leon Bailey jinked inside Milos Kerkez before lashing the ball across Neto and in at the far post. Semenyo was then booked for dissent in the 17th minute and somehow avoided a second yellow card despite a blatant shirt-pull a minute later.

Villa's misery was compounded when the goal they thought they had scored form the subsequent free kick was chalked off after a VAR review found Lucas Digne had been offside.

Ollie Watkins has scored eight Premier League goals so far this season.

Dominic Solanke looked to have sealed the win for Bournemouth seven minutes into the second half with a smart finish into the bottom-left corner of Martinez's goal.

Both sides continued to attack and Villa, who had been kept in the game by some fine saves by Martinez, came closest to scoring with a deflected shot from Jhon Durán that hit the post in the 72nd minute.

However, with the clock ticking up towards 90 minutes Watkins finally got the equaliser his side so richly deserved, twisting his body to steer home a brilliant header to take a share of the points.

The result keeps Villa in fourth place in the table on 29 points after 14 games, while Bournemouth remain above the relegation zone in 16th on 13 points.

"We are very happy with the performance of the team, we had the better of the game and had many chances but we finish with one point. We cannot be happy with the point," Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola said in a post-match TV interview.

Villa goal-scorer Watkins was a lot happier with the point that he secured for his side.

"It was important that we came away with something - we didn't create too much in the second half, but we didn't make the most of it in the first half when it was wide open," he told the BBC.

"Our away form hasn't been up to standard and we know that, it's tough playing every few days but it's what we are here to do," he added.