Aston Villa not at their best but secure 3-2 win over Burnley

Birmingham World reporter Charlie Haffenden's reaction to Aston Villa 3-2 Burnley in the Premier League.

Transcript

00:00 Aston Villa round off 2023 with a narrow 3-2 win over Burnley here at Villa Park.

00:06 Claiming all three points to move to second in the Premier League behind Liverpool on goal difference.

00:10 Manchester City moving closer with a win over Sheffield United but the job is done here.

00:15 It wasn't pretty though to say the least. It took an 89th minute penalty from Douglas Luiz to seal the deal.

00:21 It should have been done a lot earlier. Lucid Diaby missing a whole host of chances.

00:24 That kind of comes to mind being the main player who missed them but it wasn't just him.

00:28 Villa didn't really have their shooting boots on all game long.

00:31 James Trafford to be fair to him, the Burnley goalkeeper, made a host of fantastic saves to keep the score at 2-1.

00:36 And then 2-2 as Lyle Foster scored. Burnley went down to 10 midway through the second half.

00:42 As Sander Berger was sent off for a second yellow card.

00:45 It was silly tugging the shirt of a Villa player. Shouldn't be doing that when you're a yellow.

00:49 And it put his side under pressure. But Burnley didn't let that put them down too much.

00:54 They got their second goal to equalise it. They looked like they were going to get a point.

00:58 Probably a deserved one as well for their efforts. Looked fantastic going forward.

01:02 Lyle Foster and Seki Amdouni doing very well at getting in behind.

01:05 Clom on long legs, Diego Carlos, even Pau Torres off the bench. Alex Moreno as well.

01:10 They didn't look themselves. Their positioning was pretty poor.

01:13 The offside trap didn't work as well as it usually does and Burnley took advantage.

01:17 As I said as well, not enough good finishing from Villa and it could have been very easily 2-2 here.

01:22 But Aaron Ramsey of all people, the brother of Jacob, the ex-Villa player,

01:26 took down John Duran, the super sub in the box, to win Villa a penalty very late and he scored it.

01:31 There was 9 minutes of added time in both halves. The second lot definitely creating a lot of tension here at Villa Park.

01:37 But it is three points secures. When you're not playing your best and you get three points,

01:41 it definitely doesn't feel great when you're watching it on performance wise.

01:45 But on paper, it's very important.

01:47 I've probably said the same about the Brentford win a few weeks ago.

01:50 Villa weren't at their best in that one. There was a sending off in that as well that helped them along the way.

01:54 That's two sets of three points that you wouldn't otherwise get.

01:57 I think Villa fans will go into the new year incredibly happy with how things are,

02:01 even despite a below par performance here and the draw with Sheffield United and the loss of Manchester United.

02:08 There's now a little bit of a break in the Premier League before action in the FA Cup.