Aston Villa’s poor start to the season continued on Tuesday night as they were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Brentford, losing 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
Harvey Elliott scored Villa’s first goal since May, but it was not enough to secure victory. The midfielder pounced on a mistake from Brentford’s Vitaly Janelt and saw his weak shot slip under goalkeeper Hakon Valdimarsson to give Villa the lead.
Brentford equalised in the second half through Aaron Hickey, who fired home a fine volley after Villa failed to clear a long throw. The game went to penalties, where the home side held their nerve to book a place in the next round.
Jadon Sancho made his debut for Villa after joining on loan from Manchester United, but he struggled to make an impact and missed a good chance early in the second half. Manager Unai Emery admitted Sancho still has work to do to regain form and fitness.
Brentford, who made 10 changes to their line-up, were boosted by the performance of defender Sepp van den Berg. The Dutchman impressed at the back and almost scored with a powerful header in the first half.
The result piles more pressure on Emery ahead of Villa’s Premier League clash with Sunderland this weekend.
