10 May 2025
Bournemouth 0 Aston Viilla 1
After an impressive win at The Emirates last time out, Bournemouth were back in the mix for the European spots as they welcomed Aston Villa to the Vitality Stadium. Unai Emery’s side still had some hope that they could chase down a top five finish with so many sides above them dropping points as we get to the business end of the season.
The two sides seemed to cancel each other out for the first twenty minutes of the game. The only action anyone saw was Mings catch Scott with an elbow square on the jaw, which floored the midfielder. After some lengthy treatment, The Cherries player was able to continue. It was his cross that created the first chance of the match as Evanilson saw his header saved by Martinez.
Looking at the fixtures for the weekend, this one particularly stood out as a potentially mouthwatering clash. Sadly the players had not read the script and the first-half was a really tedious affair with very few chances. Considering both sides had so much to play for, it really was failing to deliver and the Vitality Stadium almost seemed like it was having a 45-minute silence for the death of the pope.
In a rare attack in The Cherries’ final third, a loose ball broke to Asensio outside the box. He opened his body up as if he was going to lay it into the path of Watkins but got a shot off instead. His effort had Kepa beaten but came crashing back off the post. That was the closest we had come to a goal in the game and it would have been largely against the run of play.
The opening seemed to spark the visitors into life. Some good play by their Spanish midfielder saw the ball worked out wide. A teasing cross was sent into the box and Kamara made a late run to get on the end of it. He had a completely free header with the entire goal to aim at but put it close enough to Kepa that he could make a save with his feet, before gathering Cash’s weak follow-up.
Ramsey strode forward with the ball and was scythed down by Scott. His childish reaction to the challenge was the sort of thing you would expect to see on a local parks pitch and saw the Villa man shown a yellow card as a result. As the free-kick was lifted into the box, it was half-cleared but Semenyo then lost possession trying to dribble it out.
Rogers whipped a cross into the box and Watkins got the slightest of touches at the near post to take it past Kepa and give Aston Villa the lead. They had been threatening this in the latter stages of the half but Bournemouth’s inability to clear their lines had led to their own downfall. Now Andoni Iraola’s side had to try and find a way back into this match.
After the interval, the visitors looked to control the game. A cheeky scooped pass over the full-back sent Digne down the flank. He cut it back to Ramsey, who could not work a shooting angle so laid the ball off to Kamara on the edge of the box. He let fly with a left-footed effort that flashed narrowly wide of the far post. Early warning to the hosts that they needed to up their levels.
The Cherries came forward on a rare attack as Semenyo started to work his magic out wide. His low cross into the box picked out Kluivert, who looked to take it around Martinez before going to ground. The replay should embarrass the Bournemouth man. He purposely poked the ball out for a goal kick before throwing himself to the floor to try and con the referee but the official was having none of it.
Aston Villa’s defence were not happy with the attempt to fool the referee and let the attacker know what they thought of him as he got back to his feet. It would have been some good karma to see the referee show him a yellow card for his antics but play was allowed to continue. How footballers think they can get away with it at this level, with all these cameras focussed on them, is just baffling.
Brooks looked to make a run down the right wing but was tripped by Ramsey. The referee quickly produced a second yellow card for the midfielder and gave him his marching orders. Suddenly, The Cherries had a lifeline in this match with the extra man and ten minutes plus added time still remaining. Unai Emery did not look pleased with his player as he trudged off the pitch passed him.
Semenyo almost made them immediately pay as the ball dropped to him in the box. The exciting attacker tried to get a shot off but dragged it narrowly wide of Martinez’s far post. Brooks then clipped a cross into the box with the outside of his foot but Evanilson’s header was clawed behind for a corner by the Aston Villa keeper.
With the last chance of the match, Semenyo got to a cross to send goalwards but Martinez got a touch to it which sent it looping towards the back post. Jebbison was there to surely score but, somehow, sent it sailing over the bar from the goal line. Most defenders would struggle to achieve the clearance the Bournemouth man pulled off.
Aston Villa held on for an important three points to keep them in the race for a top five spot. For the hosts, they had wasted a big chance to put themselves in a position of strength for achieving European football for the first time in the club’s history. It was a game that Ollie Watkins will not forget, he became his side’s top goalscorer in Premier League history.
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