Aston Villa continued their top-four charge with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
Unai Emery’s side started brightly, with Amadou Onana dictating the tempo in midfield, but despite their early dominance, Villa struggled to create clear chances.
The match finally sparked into life late in the first half when Marco Asensio hit the post from the edge of the box before Boubacar Kamara was denied from close range by Kepa. The breakthrough came in stoppage time, as Matty Cash robbed Semenyo in midfield and set Morgan Rogers free, whose pinpoint cross was expertly finished by Ollie Watkins.
Bournemouth made changes at the break, with Justin Kluivert introduced to add some attacking spark. Despite increased pressure from the hosts, clear-cut chances remained rare.
Villa appeared comfortable until the 80th minute when Jacob Ramsey was sent off for a second yellow, giving Bournemouth late hope. Iraola’s side threw everything forward, with Evanilson and Semenyo going close.
Emiliano Martinez made a stunning late save to deny Semenyo, before Cash crucially put off Daniel Jebbison, who headed over with the goal gaping. Villa held on for a vital win as their Champions League hopes remain alive.
FULL TIME: Bournemouth 0-1 Aston Villa.
Despite last week’s brilliant 2-1 win against Arsenal, Iraola made two changes to his Bournemouth side. Justin Kluivert dropped to the bench, with Alex Scott taking his place. Antoine Semenyo came back in for the injured Dango Ouattara.
Unai Emery made four changes to the Aston Villa side ahead of the game. Lucas Digne, Amadou Onana, Tryone Mings and Jacob Ramsey were all handed starts, replacing the injured Youri Tielemans, John McGinn, Pau Torres and Ian Maatsen.
Southampton gave Villa’s Champions League hopes a boost as they held Manchester City to a 0-0 draw earlier in the day, and it was Villa who started the brightest.
Onana controlled the game in midfield early on, bringing the away side into the final third with some excellent passes and powerful ball carrying.
However, Emery’s side failed to make the most of their early advances, struggling to create any clear attempts on goal.
A pretty dull half finally came to life in the 43rd minute as Marco Asensio did well to make room for a shot on the edge of the box, which looked like it was creeping into the bottom corner, but Bournemouth were saved by the post.
The game really opened up after that, with Asensio at the heart of it once again. The Spaniard dribbled past two players with ease before playing the ball out wide to Lucas Digne.
The Villa left-back crossed in a peach of a delivery, giving Boubacar Kamara a free header from five yards out. The French midfielder met the cross well, but failed to put it in either corner as Kepa Arrizabalaga stretched out a strong leg to keep it out.
GOAL, 51’.
The away side were piling on the pressure and finally opened the scoring in the last minute of added on time in the first half.
Semenyo did well initially whilst trying to bring Bournemouth clear but eventually lost out to Matty Cash, who robbed him of the ball and played it to Morgan Rogers.
Rogers then played a fantastic early cross into Ollie Watkins, who stretched out his left leg and made the perfect amount of contact to guide it past Kepa into the far corner. A massive goal for the Villans.
HALF TIME
Following a disappointing first half for the Cherries, Iroala turned to his bench at half time. Justin Kluivert replaced Adam Scott, hoping to cause the away side a few more problems.
Bournemouth came out at the start of the second 45 pressing for an equalizer, but again couldn’t create much in the final third.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first half, with neither goal keeper having to make any saves of note.
RED CARD, 80’.
Aston Villa were seeing out the game without many issues until Jacob Ramsey received his second yellow card for a cynical foul on David Brooks as the home side looked to counterattack.
Iraola’s team then began really piling on the pressure with 10 minutes to go.
Evanilson saw his header saved by Martinez, whilst Semenyo also fired a right footed shot just wide of the target.
With just one minute left to go in added on time, Martinez made an incredible save at close range, getting a hand to Semenyo’s right footed shot. Daniel Jebbison then looked poised to head home the rebound into an empty net, but Matty Cash did enough to put him off as he placed his header over the bar.
FULL TIME: Bournemouth 0-1 Aston Villa.
The result means that Villa now move above Nottingham Forest and level on points with Chelsea and Newcastle in the Champions League places. They sit in 6th position due to their much inferior goal difference.
Bournemouth missed the chance to go back into the European places following Brentford and Brighton’s wins earlier in the day. The Cherries started the day in 8th but have now dropped to 10th in the table with just two games remaining.
It doesn’t get any easier for Iraola’s side as they face a trip to Manchester City next week. Aston Villa will really fancy their chances of making the top five as they play Tottenham at Villa Park
next Friday and then face Manchester United on the final day of the season. Both sides are involved in the Europa League final on the 21st of May, so may rest crucial players.