Troy Deeney caught out in Ollie Watkins verdict after Aston Villa win v Brentford
Troy Deeney got it wrong about Ollie Watkins after he scored the winner against Brentford on Saturday.
The Villans travelled to West London on 8 March and secured three points and a clean sheet on the road for the first time since January.
This came courtesy of an early second half strike from the England international who drove the ball home under Mark Flekken in the Bees’ net.
Unai Emery’s side were delighted to take the win and shut out the home side but it was the performance of the striker who caught Deeney’s eye.
Deeney wrong in Watkins comment after Brentford goal
The 29-year-old has loved playing against his former employers since leaving them for B6 back in 2020.
The forward has netted six goals in seven games against Thomas Frank’s side, getting on the scoresheet against the Bees twice this season.
As a result, it is little surprise that the home supporters decided to boo the Englishman from start to finish at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Regardless of this, the former Exeter City man proved his class as he refused to celebrate against his old side, being dragged towards the away fans by his teammates.
Youri Tielemans imitated the jeers in the striker’s ears who wasn’t for winding up the home faithful any more than he had by opening the scoring.
Despite this being the case, Deeney suggested Watkins was right to celebrate against his old team in his BBC Sport team of the week (11 March), which is quite bizarre.
He said: “Scored a good goal in Villa’s win over Brentford. He celebrated against his old team, which he should do. A good weekend for him!”
Watkins scores again for Aston Villa
In what many Villa fans would assume has been a poor season for their number 11, Watkins has contributed to 19 Premier League goals in just 25 starts.
Although this isn’t the shining lights of his 40 in all competitions last campaign, it is still a very positive return.
| Competition | Goals | Assists |
| Premier League | 13 | 6 |
| FA Cup | 0 | 2 |
| Champions League | 1 | 4 |
The love of Jhon Duran throughout the opening half of the year put a dampener on the good work of the Englishman but he is on his way to changing that view.
Emery has continued to back the former Brentford man and that faith has been repaid with the winner at the Gtech and point saving goals against Liverpool and Ipswich Town.
There is plenty to appreciate about Watkins and it will certainly be interesting to see how the forward performs with upwards of 11 games remaining this campaign.