Aston Villa endured a miserable afternoon as they dropped valuable points away at Ipswich Town on Sunday at Portman Road.
Unai Emery’s side went into the match knowing that three points would take them into second place, level with leaders Liverpool.
But they were 1-0 down early on after abject defending from the backline, but in next to no time, Aston Villa showcased their comeback skills.
Morgan Rogers pounced on a poor clearance to score his first Premier League goal of the season, before Ollie Watkins was scoring again and putting his side into the lead.
You thought Villa should have controlled the game from then on, but they didn’t and deservedly conceded again in the second half.
The draw was the fair result and if the Champions League side are honest with themselves, then they were lucky they didn’t lose, in the end.
One man who came into the XI – from Villa’s win over Wolves – was Leon Bailey, with John McGinn making way after his injury.
Bailey has had a stop-start few weeks after picking up an injury before the recent international break.
But Paul Scholes wanted to give the 27-year-old his flowers after he recorded his first assist of the campaign.
Rather than cross with his left foot, Bailey played an outswinger with his right and it was brilliantly headed home by Watkins.
Scholes stated ‘you don’t see that often these days’ as he praised Bailey for going old-school, as he told Premier League Productions (29/09/24 at 2:55 pm).
Leon Bailey’s assist for Ollie Watkins’ goal
“Yeah, it’s a great ball,” said Scholes about Bailey’s assist. “You don’t see that often these days, he crosses from the right or the left and it’s actually whipped in away.
“We actually thought the keeper could have possibly come for it, but when you look again, there is no chance. It’s a great ball in. Swerving away from the goalkeeper. It’s a brilliant centre-forward’s goal.”
Leon Bailey against Bayern Munich
Villa have been building up for this Bayern Munich game for a long time and everyone is hoping for a positive outcome.
It’s incredible that there is some negativity heading into the game because of the team’s situation and defensive problems.
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You don’t blame the supporters because Villa are yet to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League this season and it is rather worrying.
But Bailey is going to be key to Villa’s success. Go back to those wins against Arsenal and Manchester City last season, he was one of the key players and he will be again.
