Andy Gray defends Aston Villa fans after what Richard Keys said about them
Aston Villa fans made their voices heard from all four sides of Villa Park after their 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town on Saturday.
The full-time whistle confirmed the spoils would be shared after Ollie Watkins‘ equaliser salvaged a point for Villa, who went 1-0 down to an Ipswich side with just 10 men following Axel Tuanzebe’s red card.
Marcus Rashford came off the bench to fire a free-kick off the crossbar which rebounded down for Watkins to prod home, and despite a late onslaught on the visitors’ goal, Ipswich were able to hold on.
However, given they were facing relegation-threatened opposition who were a man down for more than half of the match, the Villans faithful made clear to Unai Emery that they felt it was two points dropped.
Andy Gray leaps to defence of Aston Villa fans after Ipswich result
Speaking on beIN SPORTS 1 (15 Feburary, 4:58pm), Richard Keys and Lions legend Andy Gray debated the very audible booing which rang around Villa Park at full-time after the result was confirmed.
Keys said: “It think they’re being a little unfair. Okay, there’s disappointment today, but across the time Emery’s been at Villa…”
“Do you know football supporters?”, Gray replied; “This is a really bad result. Villa should be winning that.”
Aston Villa fans right to want more after Ipswich draw
Supporters of both the Villans and the Tractor Boys have been on momentous journeys in recent years, with the latter seeing their side secure back-to-back promotions from League One up to the top-flight.
Villa, meanwhile, have themselves gone from the Championship to the Champions League in the space of little over five years, an astonishing rise which is in a large part down to the impact Emery has made.
However, Villa’s rise to becoming regular European contenders has only come as fast as their previous fall, dropping from the top half of the Premier League to the Championship in a similar space of time.
As a result, now the Villans are back up to the levels expected of a club with its size and history, so too have the standards been raised, and a draw to newly-promoted opposition just doesn’t cut it anymore.
Particularly given Ipswich were down to 10 men, Emery will have plenty to work on ahead of his side’s next match, and the killer instinct brought by the likes of Watkins and Rashford needs to come to fruition.