Aston Villa 2-2 Burnley: Report, Ratings & Reaction as Spoils are Shared at Villa Park

After failing to win any of their previous three fixtures, Aston Villa would have wanted to gain all three points against a well-disciplined Burnley side who sit tenth in the Premier League. 

The Villans got off to a bright start, with a disallowed John McGinn goal followed by a deft first time finish from Anwar El Ghazi. However, Villa could not hold onto the lead and were pegged back by Jay Rodriguez, who scored his first goal of the season. 

The home side managed to get themselves back in front after John McGinn met Trézéguet's cross, only for the away side to equalise less than two minutes later through Chris Wood.

ASTON VILLA

Key Talking Point

Whilst a fine finish from Anwar El Ghazi opened the scoring for Aston Villa, it was the goal that didn't count that gave the Claret and Blues the spark they needed.

John McGinn neatly finished a Matt Targett cross into the bottom right hand corner which was subsequently disallowed after a lengthy VAR check. Upon which a mighty roar bellowed from the Villa Park stands, encouraging their team on. 

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The support from the 41,546 strong crowd galvanised Villa, who put on a bold performance and will be disappointed not to come away with all three points.  

Player Ratings

Starting XI: Heaton (6); Guilbert (6), Engels (6), Mings (6), Targett (6); McGinn (8*), Nakamba (7), Hourihane (6); Grealish (7), Wesley (6), El Ghazi (7).

Substitutes: Taylor (6), Trézéguet (6), Davis (N/A).

STAR PLAYER -  Whilst a number of Villa players performed well, including Jack Grealish and Marvelous Nakamba, John McGinn was the standout performer in this fixture. 

Creatively, everything went through the 24-year-old and he continually dropped deep and drove forward with the ball to create chances for his teammates. There was a tenacious tendency to regain possession from the opposition and transition from defence to attack. He even added a goal to take his total to three for the season so far.

Another impressive performance from the Scotsman following a solid display against Arsenal last weekend. 

BURNLEY

Key Talking Point 

The cliché states you're most likely to score straight after conceding, and Chris Wood reinforced this with a fierce header into the Aston Villa net one minute and 32 seconds after conceding at the other end. 

Whilst lacklustre in the first half, Burnley came flying out of the blocks at the start of the second half and the persistence paid off with two expertly taken second-half headers.

Sean Dyche may even feel that his team could have come away from this game with all three points, but on the day they had to settle for a single point. 

Player Ratings

Starting XI: Pope (5); Lowton (5), Tarkowski (5), Mee (5), Pieters (4); Hendrick (5), Westwood (4), Cork (4), McNeil (6); Wood (7*), Barnes (7)

Substitutes: Rodriguez (7), Brady (N/A)

STAR PLAYER - The two men up top were a handful for the the Lions defence in the second half, but it was Chris Wood who persisted and managed to grab himself a goal to level the scores at 2-2. That is the Kiwi's third goal of the season and the seventh goal shared by Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes. 

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Looking Ahead

Dean Smith's Aston Villa take on Norwich at Carrow Road next time out before a home clash with Brighton after the international break.

Burnley will host Everton at Turf Moor in their next game, followed by a fixture at Leicester.