West Brom are nine points ahead of safety with five games left
West Brom’s faint hopes of avoiding relegation suffered a significant setback after substitute Keinan Davis equalized for Aston Villa in the 92nd minute.
The Baggies fell back as Anwar El Ghazi marked his return to the side by firing Villa from the penalty spot after Semi Ajayi cut off Ross Barkley.
They received their own penalty, Matheus Pereira defeating Emiliano Martinez to level after Ezri Konsa caught Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
Brazilian striker Pereira hit the bar after a free-kick after creating opportunities for Okay Yokuslu and Maitland-Niles before Mbaye Diagne’s deflected strike against Tyrone Mings looked like a third win in four games.
But Davis lunged for his first Premier League goal in the closing moments after a defensive mix-up to contest the Baggies, who are now nine points ahead of safety with five games left.
Baggies are approaching the descent
Aston Villa 2-2 West Brom: Sam Allardyce scores a late goal as Baggies goes towards relegation
West Brom’s players fell to their knees as referee Stuart Attwell blew for full time after seeing three points that ripped Davis’ dramatic goal out of control.
They had shown tremendous character to recover from Thursday tame defeat at Leicester and come from behind to lead their rivals in the West Midlands at Villa Park.
West Brom started this game 10 points for safety reasons Burnley’s nice win at Wolves earlier on Sunday and could easily have collapsed in the ninth minute after El Gahzi’s penalty.
Instead, they fought their way back with Pereira, the ex-Sporting Lisbon player who scored a goal, hit the crossbar and opened up multiple chances for his teammates.
At the other end, Sam Johnstone, whose long lead led to the second goal, scored a big save to prevent English striker Ollie Watkins from equalizing.
But they couldn’t hold on to a season after winning automatic promotion with Leeds and face a quick return to the championship, despite Sam Allardyce still not admitting defeat.
“We told the guys, the teams that left that position, and there are about six of them,” said the Baggies boss.
“It means you’ve won a lot of games in the last couple of games, but five or six teams have.
“People might have looked at the team and thought, are they going to go under?” but we didn’t. “
West Brom were moments away from a sixth Premier League win of the season when Villa equalized in added time
Wesley enjoys returning to the villa
Despite Davis equalizing, it’s now an eight-game win for an Aston Villa side that continues to miss influential captain Jack Grealish.
The season at Villa is in full swing, but Dean Smith had positive results despite failing to score maximum points against the struggling neighbors.
While it remains unclear when Grealish will be back, Brazilian striker Wesley got his first taste of action 480 days after suffering a serious knee injury.
Defeat would have been a farce for Villa-Smith
Davis scored his first top goal in his 29th appearance, which his manager liked.
“It was a good moment for Keinan, he’s a well respected and popular player,” said Smith. “He needed that goal and it gave him a big boost.”
Mid-Table Villa only took six points out of the last 24 on offer, but against West Brom they at least showed that they are ready to fight to the end.
Smith knows he has a lot more work to do this summer to improve his squad but this has been a very satisfactory season for Villa after surviving relegation on the last day of last season.
“We showed real spirit” – what they said
West Brom chief Sam Allardyce: “Without their goalkeeper and the woodwork, we would have got the third one to make it.”
“It was our mistake to equalize, but I can’t be too critical of the players. I’m very happy with the reaction to the disappointment at Leicester.
“The guys showed real spirit after a seedy start. Apart from the last few seconds, everything went very well.”
Dean Smith, Head of Aston Villa: “I think it was the least we deserved. It would have been a farce if we’d been beaten.
“We were the attackers. I still wonder why the penalty was imposed on us. Whoever is in Stockley Park has to make it safe [referee Stuart Atwell] Look at the monitor.
“We controlled the ball really well, we moved it well and gave them problems. We showed that we can be a team when Jack [Grealish] do not play. ”
Saves more than anyone else – the statistics
- With nine in the game, West Brom’s Sam Johnstone has made 137 saves in the Premier League this season, more than any other goalkeeper.
- Anwar El Ghazi has scored five goals against West Brom in all competitions, at least three more than any other opponent during his time at Aston Villa.
- The Tyrone Mings own goal was Aston Villa’s first of the season and the 47th overall in Premier League history. Only Everton (53) has scored more own goals in the competition.
- West Brom have only scored 11 points in their 17 away games this season. Only the relegated Sheffield United (four) has fewer away points in the Premier League this season.
What’s next?
The mansion is out and about in Everton on Saturday (8:00 p.m. CET) while West Brom welcomes Neighbors Wolves to the Black Country Derby on Monday 3 May (6:00 p.m.).
Player of the game
Matheus PereiraMatheus Pereira
Aston Villa
Cadre number39PlayernameDavis
Cadre number11PlayernameWatkins
Cadre number26thPlayernameMartínez
Cadre number18thPlayernameTargett
Cadre number7thPlayernameMcGinn
Cadre number41PlayernameRamsey
Cadre number21PlayernameThe Ghazi
Cadre number27PlayernameAhmed El Mohamady
Cadre number6thPlayernameDouglas Luiz
Cadre number9PlayernameWesley
Cadre number4thPlayernameSo
Cadre numberfifteenPlayernameTraore
Cadre number5PlayernameMings
Cadre number20thPlayernameBarkley
West Bromwich Albion
Cadre number12thPlayernameMatheus Pereira
Cadre number1PlayernameJohnstone
Cadre number30thPlayernameMaitland-Niles
Cadre number18thPlayernameGallagher
Cadre number17thPlayernameDiagne
Cadre number2PlayernameEighth mile
Cadre number35Playernametomorrow
Cadre number7thPlayernameRobinson
Cadre number14thPlayernameTownsend
Cadre number10PlayernamePhillips
Cadre number6thPlayernameAjayi
Cadre number5PlayernameBartley
Cadre number27PlayernameO’Shea
Constellations
Aston Villa
formation 4-2-3-1
26thMartínez
27El Mohamady4thSo5Mings18thTargett
6thDouglas Luiz7thMcGinn
fifteenTraore20thBarkley21The Ghazi
11Watkins
- 26thMartínez
- 27El Mohamady
- 4thSo
- 5Mings
- 18thTargett
- 6thDouglas LuizReplaced byRamseyat the 78 ‘protocol
- 7thMcGinn
- fifteenTraoreReplaced byWesleyat the 90 + 1 ‘protocol
- 20thBarkleyReplaced byDavisat the 82 ‘protocol
- 21The Ghazi
- 11Watkins
replacement
- 1Warm up
- 3Taylor
- 9Wesley
- 19thNakamba
- 22ndAngel
- 30thHome
- 39Davis
- 41Ramsey
- 52Philogene-Bidace
West Brom
formation 4-1-4-1
1Johnstone
2Eighth mile6thAjayi5Bartley14thTownsend
35tomorrow
12thCosta Pereira18thGallagher30thMaitland-Niles7thRobinson
17thDiagne
- 1Johnstone
- 2Eighth mile
- 6thAjayi
- 5Bartley
- 14thTownsend
- 35tomorrowBooked at 77 minutes
- 12thCosta Pereira
- 18thGallagherBooked at 54 minutes
- 30thMaitland-NilesReplaced byO’Sheaat the 86 ‘protocol
- 7thRobinsonReplaced byPhillipsat the 67 ‘protocol
- 17thDiagne
replacement
- 4thRobson canoe
- 8thLivermore
- 10Phillips
- 11Diangana
- 19thSawyers
- 22ndPeltier
- 25thbutton
- 27O’Shea
- 29Grant
Live text
End of the game, Aston Villa 2, West Bromwich Albion 2.
The second half ends, Aston Villa 2, West Bromwich Albion 2.
Attempt saved. John McGinn (Aston Villa) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the center of the goal. Assisted by Ahmed El Mohamady.
Attempt saved. Wesley’s (Aston Villa) header from the center of the penalty area is saved in the center of the goal. Assisted by Ahmed El Mohamady with a cross.
Goal! Aston Villa 2, West Bromwich Albion 2. Keinan Davis (Aston Villa) shot his left foot into the center of the goal at close range.
Substitution, Aston Villa. Wesley replaces Bertrand Traoré.
Missed attempt. Conor Gallagher (West Bromwich Albion) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left. Prepared by Matheus Pereira.
Foul by Matt Targett (Aston Villa).
Mbaye Diagne (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Keinan Davis (Aston Villa) hits the left post with a left footed shot from the center of the box. Assisted by Tyrone Mings following a corner.
Attempt blocked. Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa) left footed shot from close range is blocked.
Attempt blocked. Ezri Konsa Ngoyo’s header from the center of the box is blocked. Assisted by Anwar El Ghazi with a cross.
Substitution, West Bromwich Albion. Dara O’Shea replaces Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
Corner, Aston Villa. The corner was scored by Darnell Furlong.
Attempt saved. Keinan Davis (Aston Villa) left footed shot from the center of the box is saved in the center of the box by the goalkeeper. Prepared by Bertrand Traore.
Substitution, Aston Villa. Keinan Davis replaces Ross Barkley.
Missed attempt. John McGinn (Aston Villa) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Ahmed El Mohamady.
Matt Targett (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Semi Ajayi (West Bromwich Albion).
Foul by Jacob Ramsey (Aston Villa).
