ASTON VILLA DESTROY BOURNEMOUTH 4-0 — DOMINANT DISPLAY FROM EMERY’S MEN

PUBLISHED 09/11/2025 AT GMT+3

Aston Villa crushed Bournemouth 4-0 for their sixth straight home win. Emi Buendía and Amadou Onana scored stunning long-range strikes before Ross Barkley and Donyell Malen sealed the dominant victory.

Aston Villa destroy Bournemouth 4-0 — dominant display from Emery’s men

Aston Villa 4-0 AFC Bournemouth - COURTESY/PHOTO

In a thrilling match at Villa Park, Emi Buendía opened the scoring with a diving 20-yard free-kick in the 28th minute, his fourth goal of the season.

Amadou Onana then took advantage of the ideal opportunity to extend the hosts' lead with a long-range goal, his first of the season, just before halftime.

It made it possible for five straight Premier League goals to come from outside the area, which is only the fourth time in the tournament that a team has had five or more long-range goals in a row and the first in fourteen years.

After the break, Emi Martínez was Villa's hero, tipping over Alex Scott's looping strike with a world-class stop to preserve Antoine Semenyo's penalty in the 67th minute.

Before Ross Barkley glanced home Lucas Digne's corner and fellow substitute Donyell Malen denied Youri Tielemans' attempt to seal the victory, Evanilson also headed against a post.

With just one loss in their past 24 home league games, Unai Emery's Villa secured their eighth victory in ten games.

In the UEFA Europa League victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday, Emery made six changes to Villa's starting lineup, with the return of Buendía, Digne, Matty Cash, Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn, and Ollie Watkins.

A fan-led papercard display and banner were also held up in the Holte End on Remembrance Sunday. Both sides, sporting poppies on their shirts, lined up alongside members of the Armed Forces for the laying of a wreath, a poem reading, a period of silence, and a performance of "The Last Post."

Following a terrible head-on collision that forced the visitors into an early change, Cash tried to loft the ball over the Cherries' keeper but was stopped by an oncoming Djordje Petrovic.

Scott's corner bounced against the top of the crossbar at the other end after Kamara's long-range attempt was parried.

Marcus Tavernier's free shot from the edge of the box went over the crossbar in a thrilling opening to the match.

A few minutes later, however, Villa took the lead with a nearly identical set-piece at the other end, with Buendía's well-placed shot going over the wall and past Petrovic.

Watkins' low strike was deflected into the side netting after Villa, with their tails up and supported by the home crowd, allowed the visitors to clear their lines.

In the 40th minute of a thrilling first session, the home team doubled their lead after being prevented by more desperate defending.

Rogers executed a brilliant move down the left and passed the ball to Onana, who touched it and then sent a low shot from 25 yards out into the bottom corner.

To maintain Villa's lead, Martínez made an incredible stop in the 55th minute, backpedalling to tip over Scott's deflected, looping effort.

Before Villa, who were down early in the second half, cleared their lines under pressure, Evanilson headed against a post.

In the 67th minute, the visitors had a chance to cut Villa's lead in half, but Martínez made a fantastic save to tip away Semenyo's penalty after Rogers was given a handballing penalty.

Shortly after, Villa's attacking midfielder missed by a close margin, and the home team quickly secured all three points.

After just six minutes on the field, Barkley got up to flick Digne's corner past Petrovic and into the far corner.

The ball was played to Tielemans on the edge of the box after another skillfully executed corner routine. His low effort struck substitute Malen before going wrong-footed by Petrovic to add a fourth.

The Netherlands international had a late chance to score a second goal as Villa's outstanding performance against the Cherries made it six games without a loss.

AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY

BY ANKO Q

PUBLISHED 04/05/2026 AT GMT+3

Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.

Forest move six points clear of West Ham after crushing Chelsea away - Courtesy Picture

Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.

Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.

Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.

Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.

West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.

Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.

Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.

CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH

BY ERIC MUBIRU

PUBLISHED 04/05/2026 AT GMT+3

As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.

"Mourinho was right," says Cesc after Chelsea’s 2015 double trophy-winning season - Courtesy Picture

Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.

After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.

He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.

Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.

“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”

Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.

Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.

He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.

Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.

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ASTON VILLA DESTROY BOURNEMOUTH 4-0 — DOMINANT DISPLAY FROM EMERY’S MEN

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AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY

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CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH

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