Aston Villa 1-1 Brentford

Emi Buendía scored his first goal for Aston Villa in a 1-1 draw against Brentford at Villa Park.

The summer signing curled home a delightful effort from the edge of the penalty area in the 13^th minute to quickly cancel out Ivan Toney’s opener.

Villa pushed for a winner, fit-again Ollie Watkins off the bench late on and twice denied by goalkeeper David Raya during eight minutes added time, but they could find no way through a resilient Bees rearguard, who were yet to concede a Premier League goal going into the encounter.

A goal apiece ensured both sides shared the spoils in what was the first top-flight meeting between the two clubs since 1947.

It leaves Villa with four points from their opening three Premier League matches heading into the international break, with a trip to Chelsea next up when domestic matters resume.

Talented teenager Carney Chukwuemeka was handed his first Premier League start while Matt Targett also returned to Dean Smith’s starting XI, with the Villa boss coming up against his former club along with Watkins and Ezri Konsa, who wore the captain’s armband.

Captain Tyrone Mings missed the encounter due to injury, with Axel Tuanzebe starting alongside Konsa at the heart of defence. John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey are currently following government guidelines with regards to Covid-19.

Amid a vibrant Villa Park atmosphere, it was the visitors who opened the scoring with just seven minutes on the clock, Sergi Canos recycling a corner which was then flicked on by Pontus Jansson and Toney was on hand to slam home from 10 yards.

But Villa restored parity within five minutes.

Danny Ings broke down the left channel, played a one-two with Anwar El Ghazi and duly found Buendía on the edge of the penalty area, who turned to create space before curling a super effort beyond Raya.

Ings was thwarted by Raya from six yards as Villa went in search of a quickfire second before the game fell into a natural rhythm, Rico Henry pulling an effort narrowly wide when well placed just after the half-hour mark.

The encounter remained level at the break and finely poised following the restart, with little separating the two sides.

Smith turned to Marvelous Nakamba in the 64^th minute as Villa continued to try and find a way past the Bees.

Watkins was introduced for the final 11 minutes before Kortney Hause replaced the injured Konsa for the latter stages, which included a lengthy period of injury time.

The returning Watkins saw his header saved by Raya before the Brentford keeper got down to keep out another late effort from the frontman as the clash finished all square.