Soccer

Premier League: Aston Villa take home win over Leicester; Brentford put five past Southampton

Volley from David Brooks earns Bournemouth win over Everton

Leon Bailey celebrates after scoring Aston Villa second goal against Leicester City at Villa Park. Photograph: Clive Mason/Getty Images
Leon Bailey celebrates after scoring Aston Villa second goal against Leicester City at Villa Park. Photograph: Clive Mason/Getty Images
Sat Jan 04 2025 - 18:08
Aston Villa 2 Leicester City 1

Leon Bailey scored the winner in Aston Villa’s 2-1 Premier League victory over Leicester City, after Stephy Mavididi’s equaliser had cancelled out Ross Barkley’s strike in an action-packed second half.

Villa found the breakthrough in the 58th minute when Barkley hammered home from outside the box, but the visitors struck back five minutes later when Emiliano Martinez’s save to deny Jamie Vardy fell to Mavididi who made no mistake from close range.

Bailey secured the three points for the hosts with a neat finish from Ian Maatsen’s short pass in the 76th minute.

Leicester’s fifth loss in a row left them in 19th place with 14 points from 20 matches, while eighth-placed Villa’s first win in three games moved them to 32 points ahead of Friday’s FA Cup third-round clash with West Ham United.

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Brentford's Bryan Mbeumo celebrates scoring with team-mates Mads Roerslev, Yoane Wissa and Kevin Schade. Photograph: Dan Istitene/Getty Images
Brentford's Bryan Mbeumo celebrates scoring with team-mates Mads Roerslev, Yoane Wissa and Kevin Schade. Photograph: Dan Istitene/Getty Images
Southampton 0 Brentford 5

Brentford thrashed relegation favourites Southampton 5-0 to chalk up a long-overdue first away win of the Premier League season, helped by a Bryan Mbeumo double.

Kevin Schade put the mid-table visitors ahead in the sixth minute at St Mary’s, the German forward flicking the ball past goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale after being fed through by Mikkel Damsgaard.

Mbeumo doubled the tally in the 62nd and added a third from the penalty spot in the 69th before assisting Keane Lewis-Potter in the second minute of stoppage time. Yoane Wissa then made it 5-0 two minutes later.

Brentford also had plenty of chances in the first half-hour, with a Christian Norgaard header bouncing off the crossbar and Ramsdale making a low save to parry a curling Wissa effort.

Last in the league with six points from 20 matches, Southampton have only one win to their credit – 1-0 at home to Everton more than two months ago – and are 10 points from safety with the fewest goals in the top flight.

David Brooks bagged the winner for Bournemouth against Everton at Vitality Stadium. Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
David Brooks bagged the winner for Bournemouth against Everton at Vitality Stadium. Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Bournemouth 1 Everton 0

Substitute David Brooks’s superb volley secured a deserved victory for hosts Bournemouth as they defeated a poor Everton 1-0 at the Vitality Stadium.

Bournemouth had found Everton tough to break down before Brooks showed excellent technique to volley Milos Kerkez’s cross into the net from 10 metres and give his side the lead on 77 minutes.

Everton created little in the contest and failed to muster a shot on goal as their scoring woes this season continued and the spectre of relegation remains a major concern.

Bournemouth are in seventh place in the table with 33 points from 20 matches, while Everton have 17 points from 19 games and lie in 16th, two points above the relegation zone.