With Ollie Watkins out injured, January addition Tammy Abraham was thrown in to make his second Villa debut and his first PL appearance since 2021.
The striker – who netted 26 goals during a loan spell with Villa in 2018/19 – was sent through on goal in the early stages by Morgan Rogers’s neat through ball, but he was ultimately unable to find a way past the resolute Caoimhín Kelleher.
Like Abraham, Douglas Luiz was making his second debut for the hosts following his loan switch from Juventus, and could have registered an assist when his clipped free-kick picked out the unmarked Ezri Konsa, who failed to find his radar with a wayward shot.
As it proved, Villa would trail at HT of a PL home game for just the second time this season despite being handed a numerical advantage in the 42nd minute, when Schade was shown a straight red card for needlessly kicking out at Matty Cash.
Just minutes later, Dango Ouattara stunned the home faithful into silence, collecting the ball from his blocked cross before drilling a fierce left-footed shot into the far top corner to net his fourth league goal of the campaign.
Looking to stage a second-half turnaround, the hosts thought they had restored parity within four minutes of the restart when Tammy Abraham tapped in from Kelleher’s parry, before a VAR review ruled that the ball had drifted out of play in the build-up, much to the frustration of the Villa support.
Cash, Luiz, and Morgan Rogers all tried and failed to find a way past the Brentford goalkeeper, whose impressive display, along with his sturdy backline, helped Keith Andrews’s side claim a precious win, moving them up to seventh spot and leaving third-placed Villa seven points adrift of the summit.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Caoimhín Kelleher (Brentford)
