Douglas Luiz leaves it late as Aston Villa finish impressive year on a high
Douglas Luiz, centre, celebrates after scoring Aston Villa’s winner (Jacob King/PA)
Aston Villa moved level on points with Premier League leaders Liverpool as Douglas Luiz’s late penalty secured a 3-2 home win over 10-man Burnley.
Villa led at the break thanks to a Moussa Diaby finish after Leon Bailey’s 28th-minute opener for the hosts had been cancelled out three minutes later by Zeki Amdouni.
Burnley suffered a further setback with Sander Berge sent off early in the second half, but it looked as if it could prove a frustrating afternoon for Villa after Lyle Foster drew things level again in the 71st minute.
Douglas Luiz, left, scores Aston Villa’s late winner from the penalty spot (Nigel French/PA)
Luiz then had the final say, converting from the spot with a minute of normal time remaining, as Unai Emery’s side moved up a place to second in the table, joining Liverpool on 42 points ahead of the Reds hosting Newcastle on New Year’s Day.
The 26th league win of their superb 2023 under Emery saw the midlands outfit bounce back from the 3-2 Boxing Day loss at Manchester United, with normal service resumed at Villa Park after the 1-1 draw with Sheffield United on December 22 had ended a club-record run of 15 consecutive home league wins.
Vincent Kompany’s Burnley, meanwhile, remain second-bottom, five points adrift of safety.
Villa had a couple of opportunities in the opening quarter-hour, with Diaby sending a volley wide and another from Ollie Watkins saved by James Trafford.
James Trafford impressed for Burnley (Jacob King/PA)
Burnley were then forced into an early change as Jordan Beyer was replaced by Hannes Delcroix, before starting to show some threat as Josh Brownhill struck wide and quickly brought a save out of
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