Villa draw, Emery sets the record straight

"The contenders for the title [with Arsenal] should be Man City, Chelsea, Tottenham, Newcastle, Man United, Liverpool. Why? Find the information."

Unai Emery

🟨 7 Feb 2026 Villa 1-1 Bournemouth, Vitality

Scorer(s): Morgan Rogers | 22’ |

Assist(s): Jadon Sancho | 22’ |

Unai Emery’s 🇪🇸 175th game in charge of Villa ends in a draw after a spectacular equaliser rescues Bournemouth a point in front of just 11,248 spectators.

Having been the victims of a Brentford smash-and-grab last weekend, Villa turn the tables somewhat and survive a strong attacking performance from the home side with an even stronger defensive one, but for a moment of magic, and a moment of horror for Lucas Digne, another three points could have been the result.

Full Match Report: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/5817

Line Up

Scorer(s)

Scorer(s): Morgan Rogers | 22’ |

Assist(s): Jadon Sancho | 22’ |

Starting XI

GK Emiliano Martínez 🇦🇷

RB Matty Cash 🇵🇱

CB Tyrone Mings 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

CB Ezri Konsa 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

LB Lucas Digne 🇫🇷 🔁

DM Amadou Onana 🇧🇪

M Douglas Luiz 🇧🇷 🔁

AM Emiliano Buendía 🇦🇷 🟨 🔁

AM Morgan Rogers 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 ⚽

LW Jadon Sancho 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🔥 🔁

CF Ollie Watkins 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🔁

Substitutes

🔁 RW Leon Bailey 🇯🇲 for AM Emiliano Buendía 🇦🇷 66’

🔁 CM Ross Barkley 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 for M Douglas Luiz 🇧🇷 77’

🔁 LB Ian Maatsen 🇳🇱 for LW Jadon Sancho 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 77’

🔁 CF Tammy Abraham 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 for CF Ollie Watkins 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 86’

🔁 DM Lamare Bogarde 🇳🇱 for LB Lucas Digne 🇫🇷 86’

Unused Substitutes

GK Marco Bizot 🇳🇱

GK Sam Proctor 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

CB Victor Lindelöf 🇸🇪

CB Pau Torres 🇪🇸

First Half Timeline

⚽ 22’ Goal! 1-0, Morgan Rogers, Assist by Jadon Sancho

🟨 35’ Booking, Emiliano Buendía

[🟨] 35’ Booking, (AFC Bournemouth), Álex Jiménez

🕒 45’+4 HT AFC Bournemouth 0-1 Aston Villa

Half-Time Comment

So refreshing after last week's anti-football from Brentford to see two teams go toe-to-toe with sparkling attacking footballer. Even better to come out on top with a belter of a goal from Morgan Rogers - his fiftieth goal involvement for the club - with a first assist for Villa from Jadon Sancho. Bournemouth though look a real threat.

Second Half Timeline

🥅 55’ Goal, 1-1, (AFC Bournemouth), Rayan Vitor Simplício Rocha

🔁 66’ Sub off, Emiliano Buendía, Sub on, Leon Bailey

🔁 77’ Sub off, Douglas Luiz, Sub on, Ross Barkley

🔁 77’ Sub off, Jadan Sancho, Sub on, Ian Maatsen

🔁 86’ Sub off, Ollie Watkins, Sub on, Tammy Abraham

🔁 86’ Sub off, Lucas Digne, Sub on, Lamare Bogarde

🕒 90’+5 HT AFC Bournemouth 1-1 Aston Villa

Full-Time Comment

Bournemouth's €28.50m teenager leaves Digne for dead and they grab a draw to leave Villa disappointed but unbeaten.

How a club who, in 2026, muster just 11,248 spectators including the usual Villa hordes, can afford to spend that sort of sum on an undoubted talent truly does show the mess the game is in.

Indeed Bournemouth today fielded a strike force that cost them €94.00m Villa? Average gates of 42,000: €56.00m

It might not be fashionable to say but on the pitch this is no longer dropping points to a minnow.

At least they play football though, just a shame so few can be bothered to watch it.

League Table

Officials Game Rating

Referee: Anthony Taylor | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Wythenshaw, 2009-

Game Rating: 6/10 Hard to believe but Taylor actually went through a game without making a major error.

Referee: Anthony Taylor | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Wythenshaw, 2009-

🕒 35 | 🟩 W15 | 🟨 D7 | 🟥 L13 |

🕒 35 | 🟩 43% | 🟨 20% | 🟥 37% |

Cards 🟨 67 | 🟥 4 | 2.02 |

Opposition Cards 🟨 82 | 🟥 5 | 2.48 |

Penalty ⚽ 4 | 🥅 1 |

Last 5: 🟨 🟥 🟩 🟥 🟨

VAR: Chris Kavanagh | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Ashton-under-Lyne, 2021-

Game Rating: 8/10 Kavanagh, one of Villa's few friends in the VAR room has a largely clean game again.

VAR: Chris Kavanagh | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Ashton-under-Lyne, 2021-

🕒 10 | 🟩 W4 | 🟨 D5 | 🟥 L1 |

🕒 10 | 🟩 40% | 🟨 50% | 🟥 10% |

Cards 🟨 20 | 🟥 1 | 2.10 |

Opposition Cards 🟨 27 | 🟥 0 | 2.70 |

Penalty ⚽ 1 | 🥅 0 |

Last 5: 🟨 🟨 🟩 🟩 🟨

The Boss

Unai Emery | 🇪🇸 | Hondarribia, 2022-

2022- 🕒 175 | 🟩 | 98 🟨 | 31 🟥 46 | 1.85

Unai Emery 🇪🇸 leads Villa for the 175th time

Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest Win percentage achieved across all competitions: 56.00%

Closest Rival: 1886-26 George Ramsay 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Management Committee 49.55%

1982-84 Tony Barton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Highest Home Win percentage achieved across all competitions: 70.59%

Closest Rival: Unai Emery 🇪🇸 66.67%

Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest Away Win percentage achieved across all competitions: 45.98%

Closest Rival: 2006-10 Martin O'Neill 🇬🇧 40.63%

Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest Premier League Win percentage achieved 53.97%

Closes Rival: 1998-02 John Gregory 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 41.22%

Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest League Win percentage achieved 53.97%

Closest Rival: 1886-26 George Ramsay 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Management Committee 48.14%

Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest Top Flight League Win percentage achieved 53.97%

Closest Rival: 1886-26 George Ramsay 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Management Committee 48.14%

1886-26 George Ramsay 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Management Committee Highest FA Cup Win percentage achieved, leading the club 5 or more times in the competition, 62.50%

Closest Rival: Unai Emery 🇪🇸 60.00%

Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest European Win percentage achieved, leading the club 5 or more times in European competition 66.77%

Closest Rival: 1974-82 Ron Saunders | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 50.00%

Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest European Cup / Champions League Win percentage achieved, leading the club 5 or more times in the competition, 66.67%

Closest Rival: 1982-84 Tony Barton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 54.55%

Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Lowest Loss percentage suffered across all competitions 26.01%

Closest Rival: 2006-10 Martin O'Neill 🇬🇧 26.32%

1958-64 Joe Mercer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Highest Post War Average Goals per Game Scored across all competitions 1.73

Closest Rival: Unai Emery 🇪🇸 1.70

On This Day

Emiliano Martínez 🇦🇷 concedes his 280th goal on his 237th appearance.

Emiliano Martínez 🇦🇷 makes more saves in a single game (seven) than any Premier League fixture since April 2021.

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/emiliano-mart%C3%ADnez

Ezri Konsa 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 270th appearance for Villa.

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/ezri-konsa

Lucas Digne 🇫🇷 makes his 130th start for Villa.

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/lucas-digne

Emiliano Buendía 🇦🇷 makes his 130th appearance for Villa.

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/emiliano-buend%C3%ADa

Morgan Rogers 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 contributes his 50th goal involvement on his 105th appearance.

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/morgan-rogers

Jadon Sancho 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 contributes his first assist for Villa on his 23rd appearance. Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/jadon-sancho

Tammy Abraham 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his first substitute appearance for the club in 42 games. Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/tammy-abraham

Sam Proctor 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his fifteenth unused substitute appearance for Villa. Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/sam-proctor

Scenes

What they said

“I think this point is something fair for both teams.

“We deserve this point as well. Of course, they deserved, maybe the second half, something more, but the match in 90 minutes was equal for both sides.

“We know, the Premier League is very difficult, and we must be resilient sometimes, like we are now, trying to keep our resilience, and trying to recover again our mood.

“Today, this point, I think can help us.”

Unai Emery

““The first half, we played a fantastic game. Of course, they were demanding us as well defensively, but we defended well.

“They created a few chances, but we defended well, and the goalkeeper as well saved us – Emiliano (Martínez), fantastic match.

“We deserved to be winning like we did in the first half, because we created chances as well, and we were in our momentum, creating good options in attack to get something more.

“But the second half, the match changed completely, and they were pushing more.

“They were dominating more, they were creating chances more than us. We only created one chance: (Matty) Cash.

“It was a very clear chance, but we really didn’t compete like the first half, but of course, we defended fantastic.

“And when we couldn’t offensively get something more, we were fighting defensively too, with the goalkeeper, with the defence, and we did a fantastic job in set-pieces, in throw-ins.”

Unai Emery, post-match.

"There's a reason why they are so good. When they play well, they win. When you play better than them, they find a way."

AFC Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola post-match.

@McLachBot.com

"We defended fantastic. But it's necessary to practice defending throw-ins and corners. A lot of duels. We must fight."

Unai Emery on the long-ball scourge that's re-infecting football.

The Last Word

"If we struggle a little bit, it is normal. We got one point and we must feel very good with 47 points. Two months ago you asked me about winning the league. Everything I told you now makes sense. Why? The Premier League is a very good league.

"The contenders for the title [with Arsenal] should be Man City, Chelsea, Tottenham, Newcastle, Man United, Liverpool. Why? Find the information."

Unai Emery sets the record straight.