Last-gasp goal denies Brentford victory at Villa Park
Aston Villa 2 Brentford 2
Jonathan Kodjia’s equaliser in the final seconds of the match denied Brentford victory at Villa Park.
Neal Maupay scored twice for the Bees and his late second looked like taking them joint top of the Championship table.
But Kodjia’s header – virtually the last touch of the game – earned Villa a point.
The hosts were angry Maupay was not sent off for an apparent first-half stamp on John McGinn.
Kodjia had levelled for Villa before the break, cancelling out Maupay’s opener, while Bees goalkeeper Daniel Bentley denied Kodjia and Jack Grealish.
McGinn prodded inches over after three minutes for a fired-up Villa before James Chester’s header deflected over.
Villa had their tails up and Grealish’s shot was gathered by Bentley before the goalkeeper thwarted him again after 19 minutes.
Ahmed Elmohamady’s cross created havoc before falling to Grealish but Bentley blocked his close-range effort.
And Villa came to rue their early misses as Brentford grabbed a 23rd-minute lead against the run of play with a wonderfully worked goal.
Lewis Macleod had already fired a warning shot wildly over but Maupay finished a sweeping move when he lashed in Ollie Watkins’ knock down from 12 yards.
In seven passes Brentford dissected Villa and Maupay should have doubled their lead five minutes later but his far-post header was scrambled off the line by McGinn.
Villa levelled six minutes before the break when Kodjia collected the ball on the byline, turned Yoann Barbet, cut inside and drilled in.
Villa continued to control the game and Grealish and Kodjia were again denied by Bentley in the second half.
Yet the longer Villa failed to capitalise on their possession the more nervous Villa Park became and Brentford gradually edged their way back.
Orjan Nyland saved well from Watkins with 20 minutes left and the Brentford forward saw an effort deflect wide.
Watkins then helped conjure the Bees’ second with eight minutes remaining when Nyland failed to hold his shot and Maupay prodded in from point blank range.
Said Benrahma almost added a third before Villa hit back right at the end.
