Burnley 1 Aston Villa 3
Vincent Kompany is finding life hard in the top division despite his side winning last season’s Championship in style, but the ex-Man City man was under no illusions of how difficult keeping Burnley in the Premier League would be.
Facing his old side in their opening game of the season was always going to be a baptism of fire, then having the game against Luton postponed did hurt The Clarets as they would have seen this as a chance to get a first win of the season under their belt.
Welcoming Aston Villa to Turf Moor, Kompany knew that his team need to start making their home a difficult place to come to and if they plan on making their stay in the league a long one, picking up points at Turf Moor is a must.
Sides are finding it too easy to play through the midfield of Burnley and this was evident again as John McGinn clipped a ball over the top for Ollie Watkins, who seemingly had a heavy touch. As James Trafford came out to try and smother the ball, the Villa striker was able to get there first and clip it to the back post.
Credit: @AVFCOfficial
Matty Cash had made the run into the box and slid in to put the ball in the back of the net. This is where the problem lies for The Clarets, their opponents are always one step ahead of them, more of a hunger to be first to the ball.
Burnley’s matches so far are looking like they are playing FA Cup games, with sides from different leagues playing one another. Teams are cutting through them like a hot knife through butter. This needs to change for Kompany, fast.
Unai Emery’s side came forward again as Cash played a one-two with Diaby and the Villa full-back got his second goal on his 100th appearance for The Villans. Turf Moor fell silent and this was becoming a case of déjà vu for the home fans.
Amdouni made a run through the middle, weaving his way past the opponents before getting a shot off from the edge of the box that whistled over the bar with Olsen at full stretch. Burnley are capable of looking dangerous coming forward but find it all too difficult to get the ball back.
As the second half started the hosts looked to try and find a way back into the game and a cross from Roberts found Foster in the box who turned and shot to find the top corner as Turf Moor erupted, Kompany’s side were now right back in the game.
The hosts were looking to pile the pressure on and as a corner was swung in, it was met with a solid header which seemed to be heading for the bottom corner until Olsen got down well to turn the effort away and keep the visitors in front.
Credit: @AVFCOfficial
Burnley were knocking on the door and felt that another goal was coming as they desperately tried to find an equaliser but try as they might Villa managed to protect their lead. As the hosts got more players forward, they were open to the counter-attack, a slick turn on the halfway line and pass saw McGinn receive the ball on the edge of the box.
He squared the ball to Moussa Diaby who hit his shot first time and swept the ball into the bottom corner with a neat finish. The ultimate sucker punch to knock the wind out of the sails of the hosts. The goal seemed to seal the points for Unai Emery’s side.
Diaby then got away down the left wing and crossed the ball into the box to find Watkins perfectly but his first time effort was well saved by Trafford in the Burnley goal to deny Villa a fourth goal. Zaniola then managed to find Cash inside the box but his sliced effort narrowly missed the top corner.
Aston Villa came away with all the points while Burnley are struggling to make themselves a tough nut to crack in the Premier League. They are making a name for themselves more with their off-field antics as opposed to what is happening on the pitch.
In their opening home match, Rico Lewis was struck with a lighter thrown from the crowd. After this game, the Aston Villa team bus had its windscreen smashed with a brick. Vincent Kompany’s side are making a name for themselves for all the wrong the reasons at the moment and the Belgian manager has some serious work to do.
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