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Premier League | Gameweek 17

Dec 17, 2023 at 2pm UK

Brentford Community Stadium

Brentford
1 - 2
Aston Villa

Lewis-Potter (45')
Norgaard (46'), Frank (47'), Ghoddos (86'), Janelt (88'), Onyeka (90'), Maupay (90+1'), Yarmolyuk (90+8')
Mee (71')

FT(HT: 1-0)

Moreno (77'), Watkins (85')
Bailey (80'), Konsa (86'), Duran (87'), Emery (90+8'), Martinez (90+8')
Kamara (90+7')

Unai Emery criticises Aston Villa after they 'lose their minds' in Brentford win

By Darren Plant, Senior Reporter | 17 December 2023

Emery criticises Villa after they 'lose their minds' in Brentford win

Unai Emery hits out at his Aston Villa players, claiming that they "lost their minds" during the closing stages of their 2-1 victory over Brentford.

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has hit out at the behaviour of his players during the closing stages of Sunday's 2-1 victory at Brentford.

Villa, one of the form teams in the Premier League, found themselves trailing as the game entered the final 20 minutes before the sending off of Ben Mee changed the game.

Not only did Villa respond by turning the match on its head with goals from Alex Moreno and Ollie Watkins, there were several unsavoury incidents after the decisive strikes.

As well as a red card for Boubacar Kamara, eight players were cautioned, as well as Emery himself, with Watkins pointing at a fan that may have shouting abuse at him instigating matters.

Furthermore, Brentford forward Neal Maupay and Villa goalkeeper were involved in two unnecessary exchanges which did not help matters, Emery choosing to step in with one of them.

Aston Villa's Alex Moreno celebrates scoring against Brentford on December 17, 2023 © Reuters

Both teams can expect contact from the Football Association in the days that follow, but Emery was quick to criticise his players for their own actions, saying it is "not in his spirit".

Speaking to Sky Sports, Emery said: "Of course we are happy with the result and how we recovered. I'm not happy with our behaviour. I want to analyse with the players.

"It's not my spirit. We try to respect everything but when they are on the pitch, they are excited and some nerves were showing. Things can happen like that, but I want to work on it. The red card of [Boubacar] Kamara and some individual behaviour in my team, I don't want them to do it.

"My message is respect everything, respect the opponent, respect ourselves, respect the referee. Today we lost a bit of our mind in some behaviours. I want to focus on the recovery and try to control it. We have to continue creating and building our team.

"Winning the match and coming back was amazing but there's still work to do with how to handle situations after the goal. I don't really want these situations in my team."

Villa end the weekend in third position in the Premier League standings, level on points with second-placed Liverpool and one point adrift of leaders Arsenal.