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Aston Villa cruised to a fourth straight home Premier League victory by brushing Bournemouth aside 4-0 at Villa Park.
Unai Emery’s side had scored only nine goals in the league coming into the match but put those behind them to dispatch Andoni Iraola’s below-par Bournemouth with ease.
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Emiliano Buendia’s sublime free-kick put them on track for a fifth win from six before Amadou Onana’s cracker from range doubled their lead.
Villa had to withstand a spell of Bournemouth pressure but Emiliano Martinez produced a string of fine saves to keep their lead intact, including a one-handed stop to deny denied Antoine Semenyo from the penalty spot after Morgan Rogers handled.
Villa then made the match safe as substitutes Ross Barkley and Donyell Malen struck to wrap up victory and deliver their biggest win of the campaign.
Emiliano Martinez atoned for his mistake at Liverpool with an outstanding penalty save – Getty Images/Marc Atkins
Boubacar Kamara’s ball over the top of the Bournemouth defence caused a problem when Matty Cash lifted the ball over Djordje Petrovic but the Bournemouth keeper was able to parry away.
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Petrovic was called into action again following a fast Villa start, with Kamara’s effort from distance tipped behind for a corner.
Onana gave possession away carelessly to Alex Scott who was brought down by Kamara. But Marcus Tavernier blasted high and wide from the free-kick.
Villa made them pay from an identical position down the other end after Rogers was taken down by Alex Jimenez outside the box.
Buendia stepped up and dipped a beautiful free-kick over the wall which sailed past the onlooking Petrovic and into the net.
Villa were producing some high quality stuff and Bournemouth were in danger of going two behind when Watkins forced a point blank save from Petrovic.
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Villa were not to be denied a second just over a minute later though. Rogers produced some neat footwork down the left and rolled it to Onana who was waiting outside the box to send his shot into the bottom left corner.
The visitors were looking to cut the deficit in half after the break. Scott forced a scrambling save from Martinez to stop his deflected effort from looping under the crossbar.
Bournemouth ramped up the tempo and looked likely to get a goal back but Evanilson nodded onto the post.
They were given a an opportunity to halve the deficit when Rogers handballed inside the area but Martinez guessed right to keep out Semenyo’s low penalty.
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That deflated Bournemouth and Villa sealed the points 13 minutes from time when Barkley flicked his head onto Cash’s corner and the ball looped into the net.
There was still time for Villa to get a fourth. Youri Tielemans lined one up from the edge of the box which took a nick off Malen and past Petrovic who was committed to diving the other way.
By Press Association
