Aston Villa 3 Burnley 2: Douglas Luiz scores incredible late penalty against ten-men Clarets in 100-plus minute thriller
DOUGLAS LUIZ held his nerve to score from the spot and put 10-man Burnley to the sword – as he fired Villa second, level on points with Liverpool at the top of the table.
But boy did Unai Emery‘s men ride their luck!
Even Luiz‘s winning penalty thumped off the underside of the bar TWICE before it finally made it into the net!
No wonder Vincent Kompany‘s Clarets collapsed to the turf at full-time after a quite incredible 100 minutes of high-octane action.
But Villa won’t care after winning for the first time in three games to get their title charge back on track.
They appeared to be in cruise control when Sander Berge was red-carded for two bookable offences shortly after half-time, as Leon Bailey and Moussa Diaby scored either side of Zeki Amdouni’s equaliser.
But 10-man Burnley battled back to equalise through Lyle Foster and looked set for a point until Douglas Luiz’s dramatic late spot-kick clincher.
Emery has incredibly never been involved in a goalless draw in the Premier League during all his time with Arsenal and Villa.
And that extraordinary record was never likely to be broken here between two teams who both prefer to play on the front foot.
By half-time we had already been treated to three goals and were a fraction away from a fourth but for a hairline offside call which went against Burnley’s Foster.
Villa were just starting to labour, and Burnley had threatened with a Josh Brownhill shot which Emi Martinez saved low to his left, when the home side grabbed the breakthrough goal they so desperately wanted
Diego Carlos spotted Ollie Watkins on the run and played the ball over the top of the Clarets advancing defence.
Watkins’ velcro touch allowed him to take on and beat Dara O’Shea before cutting back to Leon Bailey who smashed the ball beyond James Trafford, with the help of a fortuitous deflection off Hannes Delcroix.
That goal made it a staggering 96 games without a goalless stalemate for Emery.
And it should have surprised nobody that Bailey was involved as his stats are every bit as impressive as his gaffer’s.
He took his tally for the season to nine goals in all competitions and he has now been involved in a goal every 77 minutes – a return only Erling Halaand can better with a goal involvement every 72 minutes.
But Burnley didn’t hang around to ponder those stats as they went straight up the park and equalised within two minutes.
Johann Gudmundsson’s deep free pick was brilliantly headed down by O’Shea and Zeki Amdouni volleyed beyond Martinez to leave the World’s No.1 helpless.
At that point Burnley suddenly looked the more confident team and Wilson Odobert flashed a header wide from Ammdouni’s cross.
However Villa really rode their luck after 37 minutes as Burnley sprung their famed offside trap.
Lyle Foster thought he had timed his run to perfection as he raced on to a Amdouni through and outstripped Clement Lenglet before burying the ball low past Martinez.
VAR decided to draw the lines and to Villa’s relief, Foster’s big toenail was found to be marginally beyond Lenglet’s and the goal was ruled out.
Villa didn’t hang around after that near escape and they regained the lead three minutes before the break through Moussa Diaby.
Watkins was again the creator as he collected a long pass beyond the Burnley rearguard and picked out the onrushing Diaby who bagged a simple tap-in.
Once again the VAR check found in Villa’s favour as it confirmed Charlie Taylor had just played Watkins onside.
There was more bad news for Burnley as Sander Berge was booked for a foul on Jacob Ramsey in the build-up to the goal.
That was to prove costly for the Clarets when Berge crazily tugged at Douglas Luiz’s shirt early in the second half and was shown a second yellow card which was followed by the inevitable red.
Ten-man Burnley had it all to do now as Villa fans waited for the kill.
But Diaby’s goal-scoring touch had deserted him as the striker passed up a string of golden opportunities.
Meanwhile at the other end Foster was creating havoc and Diego Carlos was fortunate not to be sent off for a handball which denied the striker, who went on to shoot wide.
As Villa pushed for a clincher Trafford denied McGinn and Diaby before Douglas Luiz curled wide.
However the 10 men fought back to level against all odds.
Trafford’s long clearance was nodded on by Gudmundsson and Foster sprinted clear to slam the ball beyond Martinez.
This time VAR found in Burnley’s favour – but they were to suffer a cruel defeat in the end.
Leon Bailey cut the ball back to sub Jhon Duran and the Colombian’s foot was caught by the outstretched boot of sub Aaron Ramsey.
To the horror of the former Villa kid – and brother of Villa’s Jacob – ref Stuart Attwell pointed to the spot.
And Douglas Luiz crashed the ball off the underside of the bar TWICE as the ball finally made its way into the Burnley net.
Recap all the action with our live blog below…