EPL

Bailey apologizes to Villa fans after crucial miss against Wolves

By Sports Desk January 06, 2023

Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey has apologised to supporters after missing a glorious chance in the closing stages of Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Danny Ings cancelled out Daniel Podence's brilliant first-half strike to deny Wolves a vital win at Villa Park.

The home side had a glorious chance to snatch all three points late in the contest. Ings turned provider, sending a ball over the top for Bailey to catch.

He managed to get ahead of Max Kilman and round goalkeeper Jose Sa before putting his effort just wide. The 25-year-old looked distraught as he collapsed to the turf, bursting into tears.

The Jamaica international was visibly emotional after gaining his composure, wiping his face with his shirt after receiving reassurance from Watkins.

A draw for Unai Emery's side means they sit 11th in the table. Victory would've seen them move within one point of the top 10, while Wolves would've moved out of the bottom three.

Bailey took to social media shortly after the game. He admitted it would be 'very difficult to sleep' knowing how close he came to scoring his fourth league goal of the campaign.

The former Bayer Leverkusen man said: "I am really sorry, Villains. I feel at blame for not coming away with all three points tonight. It's really hard to take and I'm very disappointed in myself.

"Surely will be very difficult to sleep tonight, but I'll try to keep my head up. Thank you for the great support tonight."

Emery was quick to back Bailey despite the miss in his post-match interview.

The Spaniard believes Bailey took responsibility and is committed to the club, something he's been desperate to instil in all his players since arriving from Villarreal in November.

He told reporters: "I’m happy with him, he was crying but it is good because he was feeling. He was taking responsibility to score and he didn’t do it. He can feel this responsibility.

"I’m very happy with his commitment and performance, he was playing inside and outside. It was good to learn more with him.

"At the end we had chances to score and win with a huge opportunity with Leon Bailey, we can be happy because we created it.

"They (the players) were supporting him and trying to improve for the next matches when he will have the same chances."

Villa return to action on Sunday evening against League Two outfit Stevenage in the FA Cup.

 

Related items

  • Simeone takes positives but Oblak slams 'pitiful' Atletico performance Simeone takes positives but Oblak slams 'pitiful' Atletico performance

    Jan Oblak hit out at a "pitiful" performance from Atletico Madrid after their 4-0 loss to Benfica in the Champions League.

    Benfica recorded their joint-biggest victory in a Champions League home match (alongside 5-1 vs Club Brugge in March 2023), as Atletico suffered their heaviest ever defeat to Portuguese opposition in the competition.

    Atletico had only four shots, failing to get any of them on target, and mustered just 0.24 expected goals (xG).

    Benfica, on the other hand, had 19 shots and accumulated 4.46 xG.

    While Diego Simeone believed there were positives to take, Oblak, who made six saves to keep the scoreline from getting even more humiliating, was far more scathing of Atletico's display in Lisbon.

    "It's pitiful to lose like this, it's not a good image to give and there's not much more to say. We weren't good today, to say the least," Oblak told Movistar Plus.

    "Sometimes games like this happen, but we can't afford it because we gave a woeful impression today. I don't have a single positive thing I can say today.

    "We didn't show up and there's not much more to say. Nobody is saved from what happened today, we have to accept it and move forward."

    Simone accepted Atletico "played badly", but did feel it was not all doom and gloom.

    "I always like to think positively and I think it's a good opportunity to keep improving," Simeone told Movistar Plus.

    "We had been doing a very good job, today we didn't play the game we expected, but we have to keep going.

    "We played badly. We have to accept that. We didn't play well, the substitutions didn't give us the spark that they gave us at other times. We played badly, they were better and we have to accept that.

    "There was no lack of tension, attitude or desire to run, we just played badly and when you play badly you are exposed to losses like this.

    "We had been doing a very good job and today the game that you don't want to see appeared.

    "Some nights are not good and we have to accept them and try to learn from what we had to go through today and recover energy for Sunday's LaLiga game [at Real Sociedad]."

  • Columbus Crew 2-3 Inter Miami: Messi, Suarez seal Supporters' Shield success Columbus Crew 2-3 Inter Miami: Messi, Suarez seal Supporters' Shield success

    Lionel Messi scored twice and Luis Suarez got the winner as Inter Miami beat 10-man Columbus Crew 3-2 to claim the Supporters' Shield in MLS.

    After three straight draws, Miami needed a victory to guarantee they got their hands on the shield, which is awarded to MLS' best team in the regular season, and they got over the line in frantic fashion on Wednesday.

    Miami's goals came between the 45th and 48th minute, with Messi, who had not recorded a direct goal contribution in any of his last three away appearances, netting the opening two.

    Having already teed up a Diego Gomez goal that was disallowed, Messi engineered space in the box to drill home and break the deadlock, before doubling his tally five minutes later with a sensational free-kick.

    Diego Rossi dragged the Crew back into it straight after the restart, but parity lasted just two minutes as Suarez capitalised on an error from Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte.

    Cucho Hernandez, who had a goal ruled out for offside in the first half, converted a penalty to reduce the arrears yet again, only for the Crew to go down to 10 when Rudy Camacho picked up two bookings in the space of four minutes.

    There was to be more drama, though, as Miami defender Ian Fray was judged to have handled in the area, yet this time, Drake Callender guessed correctly to deny Hernandez and ensure victory for Miami.

    Data Debrief: Record points total within reach

    That is Miami's second piece of silverware in the bag, after their Leagues Cup triumph last year, and the Herons' focus will now switch to an MLS record.

    If they win their remaining two games before the postseason, against Toronto FC and New England Revolution, Miami will set the MLS regular-season points record, overtaking the tally of 73 set by the Revolution in 2021.

  • Kompany: Bayern must learn from defeat to Villa Kompany: Bayern must learn from defeat to Villa

    Vincent Kompany lamented Bayern Munich's profligacy and urged his team to learn from their mistakes after their 1-0 loss to Aston Villa.

    Jhon Duran's superb finish at Villa Park saw the hosts claim all three points in Wednesday's Champions League encounter.

    It was just the second meeting between Villa and Bayern, with the first having come back in the 1982 European Cup final, which the English team won 1-0.

    Bayern had their chances, though, having 17 shots, getting seven on target and mustering 1.42 expected goals (xG), with Emiliano Martinez making a string of fine stops late on.

    "We missed some big chances and they scored the chance. We've got to take the learnings from this," said Kompany after suffering his first defeat as Bayern head coach.

    "When we have the ball, we're dangerous, but they're a strong team, this isn't an easy place. It wasn't a bad performance.

    "If you don't take your chances, it can happen.

    "We had big chances, we didn't score them. We gave away a moment and in that moment obviously Villa scored a goal.

    "I understand the occasion it was for the opponent and it was a special night for them."

    Villa became the second English side to win their first two Champions League games (since 1992-93), after Leicester City in 2016-17.

    Bayern, meanwhile, saw their 41-game unbeaten run in the group/league stage of UEFA's elite club competition (the longest such run in the tournament's history) come to an end.

    "When we have the ball, we're dangerous, but [Villa] are a strong team, this isn't an easy place. It wasn't a bad performance," Kompany added.

    "We conceded very few chances. If we focus on our own work, we will win a lot of games still." 

    Bayern visit Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.