Aston Villa deepen Burnley's relegation worries with win at Turf Moor

Updated: May 17, 2023, 04:57 am

A resurgent Aston Villa beat Burnley 3-1 at Turf Moor in the Premier League on Saturday, halting the home side's mini-revival under interim manager Mike Jackson with goals from Danny Ings, Emiliano Buendia and Ollie Watkins.

Buendia sent Ings through on goal with a precise pass with seven minutes on the clock, and the former Burnley striker made no mistake as he slotted home past Nick Pope.

- ESPN's notebook: The inside stories from around the world 

- Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only)

- Don't have ESPN? Get instant access

Villa doubled their lead in the 31st minute after Watkins combined with Lucas Digne, who cut the ball back across the box for Buendia to score via a slight deflection.

Burnley had won their last three league games under Jackson but were made to pay for their wastefulness in front of goal, with Wout Weghorst and Dwight McNeil guilty of missing chances in the first half.

Ollie Watkins scored Aston Villa's third goal in their comfortable win at Burnley.
Alex Livesey/Getty Images

"I thought the first half was quite even, there was not much in it," Jackson said. "We got punished for a couple of errors. I thought we had some good moments but didn't punish them.

"There are three more games to go. The next one [against Tottenham Hotspur] is the most important, but things change very quickly in football."

Burnley lost their captain James Tarkowski to an injury shortly after the restart and things got worse for them when Watkins headed in Villa's third from point-blank range in the 52nd minute, after meeting John McGinn's superb cross.

Substitute Maxwel Cornet pulled a consolation goal back for Burnley in the 91st minute.

"It was a realty strong away performance. We were better in every department," Villa boss Steven Gerrard said. "This is a tough place to come so my players deserve a little bit of credit.

"We're in a good place and we've got a tough game on Tuesday [against Liverpool] but we'll make a couple of changes and rest up to make sure the team is ready."

Burnley remain in 16th place on 34 points but could find themselves back in the relegation zone if Arsenal fail to beat Leeds United and Everton beat Leicester City on Sunday. The win moved Villa provisionally up to 11th place.