Aston Villa will end 2019 in the Premier League relegation zone after falling to a fifth defeat in six league games this afternoon.
Dean Smith’s men were thumped 3-0 by fellow strugglers Watford at Vicarage Road, with the Hornets closing to within two points of the Villans following that result.
The result seemed all the more galling for Aston Villa considering that they played against 10 men for more than half an hour, with Watford’s Adrian Mariappa shown a second yellow card on 57 minutes for a foul on Henri Lansbury, as noted by @AVFCOfficial on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1210957588092903426
The home side were only one goal to the good at the time of that red card but Aston Villa failed to utilise their one-man advantage, with a Troy Deeney penalty and an Ismaila Sarr goal instead widening the gulf between the two teams this afternoon. [via Sky Sports]
The trajectory of the second half was correctly predicted by these Villa fans on Twitter who did not get their hopes up when Mariappa was dismissed:
Makes no difference to us
— Jim (@jamsey55) December 28, 2019
We’re still rubbish against 10
— Robert P White (@RobertPWhite4) December 28, 2019
Won’t make much difference 2 us coudnt beat an egg
— davidsmith (@DavidsmithMrbre) December 28, 2019
Never goes well when there’s 10 men 😩
— Dylan (@dylanproud4) December 28, 2019
Announce 5-0 loss
— Jake (@Jake71121606) December 28, 2019
Give Watford the win we never beat 10 men
— 🃏AxwarElGaXzI🐲 (@MoveItLikeAnwar) December 28, 2019
We can’t play against 10 men anyway.
— AVFC_UTV (@UpTheVilla_AVFC) December 28, 2019
That confirms their win
— Josh Barber (@xJb_10x) December 28, 2019
Did you think Aston Villa had a strong chance of recovering the one-goal deficit when Mariappa was sent off or were you not surprised by their second half collapse? Have your say by commenting below!
