Ice cool Valdimarsson denies Aston Villa in penalty shoot out drama as Bees continue their Carabao Cup passage

Brentford FC

Brentford 1 Aston Villa 1

(Brentford win 4-2 on penalties)

Brentford prevailed in a tight Carabao Cup tie against Aston Villa at the Gtech Stadium, thanks to penalties and, in particular, the form of goalkeeper Hakon Valdimarsson.

In a game which ebbed and flowed, the Bees went a goal down two minutes before half time when Harvey Elliott slotted the ball under Valdimarsson. It was a poor error from the glove man, who more than redeemed himself with some fine saves towards the end of the ninety minutes, and then having his moment when the nervy spot kicks arrived.

The Bees applied themselves well after going a goal down in normal time, and in the second half they equalised in style when Aaron Hickey volleyed from inside the penalty are, the ball sailing past static Villa keeper Marco Bizot.

Andrews' side now, crucially, have some positive momentum before Saturday evening's west London derby against Fulham at Craven Cottage, where they seek to earn their second Premier League win of the season.

The Brentford manager gave an opportunity to fringe players, Antoni Milambo, Dango Ouatarra and Ben Arthur, with the experienced Jordan Henderson not in the match day squad. Andrews could, though, call on plenty of experience on the bench with the likes of Kevin Schade, Mathias Jensen and Mikkel Damsgaard. The latter was an injury doubt but eventually made the squad.

The Carabao Cup may not be the highest priority for Brentford this season, especially under the new management of Andrews, keen to cement good status in the dug out since the departure of Thomas Frank to Tottenham, but it is still a competition where the club could potentially go far. And they managed to squeeze past Villa in the end, which in terms of overall character will please supporters.

Andrews' men were in a good place going into this tie against a Villa team who had yet to score in any of their fixtures this season. Three days after an entertaining 2-2 west London derby draw with Chelsea, a game in which the Bees showed immense spirit to earn a point, this was billed as a significant test.

Impressive

Following a quiet start, the hosts produced the first real chance of the evening. From a Vitaly Janelt corner on the right, Sepp Van Den Berg rose to head goalward, only to draw an impressive save by Bizot.

Brentford enjoyed copious amounts of possession as Unai Emery's outfit showed a noted reluctance to press forward and take any real risks. Could the Bees translate this into an opening goal?

As it turned out, it was Villa - against the general run of play - who opened the scoring with two minutes to half time - a defensive and goalkeeping mistake undid Brentford.

Janelt was dispossessed in front of his own penalty area, and the ball fell invitingly to Elliott, who slotted the ball underneath Valdimarsson. The Bees' Icelandic keeper really should have stopped the effort, the ball squirming beyond his grasp.

Andrews' interval response was to replace Janelt with Yehor Yarmoliuk, with Nathan Collins coming on for Kristoffer Ajer, who had picked up a knock, shortly afterwards. However the hosts were erratic at the start of the second half and Jadon Sancho almost made it two for Aston Villa only to strike the woodwork from a low cross which the Brentford rear guard failed to clear.

Finally, a breakthrough for the Bees - and it as an excellent piece of technique to draw them level too.

Volley

In the 57th minute, Villa failed to deal with the danger of a long throw - officially a very effective trademark under Andrews these days - before a well-placed, right-footed hit by Hickey sailed past Bizot. It was a superb goal to lift the Gtech and spark Brentford back into the tie.

The Bees had a fresh vibrancy about them and Dango Ouatarra caused Villa plenty of problems before tiring and being substituted for Damsgaard with 13 minutes remaining.

The second half was competitive but both teams - Hickey's leveller apart - just lacked that note of quality to make a significant difference. Villa, for their part, were reduced to the odd incursion.

One of those nearly came off - and the Bees had Valdimarsson to thank for spreading himself to deny Matty Cash at the far post from John McGinn's dangerous, sweeping cross. And the Icelander then had to deal with a raking low drive from Villa substitute Morgan Rogers. Valdimarsson, additionally, denied Rogers in added time, following the Villa player's darting run through the Bees' defence.

With Damsgaard also going close at the other end, all the signs pointed towards a penalty shoot out.

Valdimarsson had not one, but two moments, which proved to make the difference.

The keeper parried penalties by McGinn and Cash, while Reiss Nelson, Yarmoliuk and finally, Damsgaard, won the tie - the Dane keeping his cool to outfox Bizot.

A hard, if finally rewarding, night for Brentford - yet Andrews will be delighted that the west Londoners progress in the competition.

Bees: Vladimarsson, Hickey (Kayode 77), Henry, Van Den Berg, Carvalho, Onyeka, Milambo (Nelson 67), Ouatarra (Damsgaard 77), Ajer (Collins 51), Janelt (Yarmoliuk 46), Arthur

Attendance: 15,895