Ollie Watkins made history for Aston Villa by becoming their top scorer in the Premier League. His decisive goal against Bournemouth secured a 1-0 victory, enhancing Villa’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League.
Watkins’ goal came just before halftime, surpassing Gabriel Agbonlahor’s record with his 75th league goal for the club.
The match saw Villa exert significant pressure, with Marco Asensio hitting the post and Boubacar Kamara forcing a save from Kepa Arrizabalaga. The second half was largely uneventful until Jacob Ramsey received a red card in the 80th minute after fouling David Brooks while already on a yellow card.
Bournemouth intensified their efforts to equalise following Ramsey’s dismissal. Antoine Semenyo missed a crucial opportunity, and Emiliano Martinez made an impressive save against Evanilson’s header. In stoppage time, Semenyo had another chance, but Martinez managed to deflect it, and Matty Cash cleared the ball off the line.
This victory propelled Villa to sixth place in the league standings, overtaking Nottingham Forest and trailing Newcastle United and Chelsea only on goal difference. Bournemouth remained in 10th place, two points behind Brentford and Brighton in their pursuit of eighth place and potential Europa Conference League qualification.
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Watkins’ achievement at Vitality Stadium was notable as he surpassed Agbonlahor to become Villa’s leading Premier League scorer. With his 16th league goal this season, he also became the highest-scoring English player in the competition, edging past Chelsea’s Cole Palmer.
The partnership between Watkins and Morgan Rogers has been fruitful this season, resulting in seven goals-the second-highest tally for any duo after Jacob Murphy and Alexander Isak’s eight goals. The match was marked by its physicality, with seven yellow cards issued alongside Ramsey’s red card.
The encounters between Bournemouth and Villa this season have been particularly contentious. A total of 21 cards were shown across both fixtures-20 yellow cards and one red-setting a record for the most cards in a single Premier League campaign fixture.