Yet Villa were handed a lifeline when the Southampton goal was disallowed by the VAR for a foul on Jacob Ramsey in the build-up.
But three City goals in the last 14 minutes won them the league and condemned Villa to five defeats from five in their third strip that season. Not only were they the party poopers at the Etihad, they were on the verge of breaking the curse. Sticking to Villa’s third-kit theme, they took the lead just before half-time and doubled it shortly after. Would the former Liverpool captain put a spanner in City’s works and hand Liverpool the title? On the final day of the campaign, narrative alerts were sounding in newsrooms across the country, as Villa - now known only as ‘Steven Gerrard’s Villa’ - travelled to Manchester City, who were going for the Premier League title. They threw away a lead at Brentford to lose 2-1 and they lost by the same scoreline at the London Stadium three months later. Villa saw a new manager bounce under Steven Gerrard but this didn’t translate to their third-kit form - they lost every game in navy that season. A combined spend of £85million ($105.4m) on Emiliano Buendia, Leon Bailey and Danny Ings didn’t help matters and Smith was sacked two days later. Villa took the lead twice (are you seeing the theme here?) but lost 3-2 at Selhurst Park.Īnother defeat in navy, this time at Southampton, was their fifth in a row and the club were languishing in 15th. Again, Villa had taken the lead but the Liverpool right-back’s late stunner halted Liverpool’s run of six consecutive home defeats.īy the time they visited Crystal Palace, the third-kit curse concern was in its genesis. Trent Alexander-Arnold scored an even later winner the next time Villa’s third kit was in action, as Villa fell to a 2-1 defeat at Anfield. Chris Wood even scored a late winner, only his fourth goal of the campaign. Burnley had only scored five home goals all season but scored three against Villa. They ended up leaving Turf Moor pointless in January 2021 despite taking the lead twice and dominating the game. Smith’s side were fifth and dreaming of Europe.īecause of the good all-round performances, Villa fans could have been forgiven for letting their team’s third-kit form slide, even if they contrived to lose their remaining three games of the season in their white strip. They won 1-0.Ĭhelsea were the next side to see Villa in white in the final game of 2020 and the spirited draw was just a part of Villa’s promising campaign up to that point. The following weekend, Villa were away again, this time at Wolves and this time wearing their home colours. A 2-1 defeat at the London Stadium put an end to Villa’s 100 per cent away record that season. Surely it would prove immaterial and Villa would continue their good away form? Sadly not. West Ham was Villa’s next away trip and the first time they would wear their white strip.
At this point, the only curse where Villa were concerned was that there were no fans in the stadium to celebrate their achievement. Talisman and captain Jack Grealish gave Villa the lead late on at the London Stadium, and although they were pegged back a minute later by Andriy Yarmolenko’s strike, Watford’s defeat at Arsenal kept Villa up. Villa needed to better their result to stay in the top flight.
At kick-off, Villa were one place above the drop zone, one place above Watford on goal difference. The positive performance at Anfield somewhat galvanised Dean Smith’s side, who went on to win two of their next four games to give themselves a chance of avoiding relegation on the final day, where they would wear their green kit again - this time away at West Ham. Villa’s position was more precarious, in the bottom three with five games remaining. They were spirited but mainly cannon fodder on this occasion, swept aside by Jurgen Klopp’s juggernaut who, by full-time, were 23 points clear of second-placed Manchester City. It’s unknown whether a mirror was broken in the away dressing room following their January 2020 win at Burnley, but that was the last time Villa won wearing their third kit, three years and 14 matches ago.Īston Villa travelled to Liverpool in July 2020 in the bottom three and on a run almost as horrible as the green and black strip they wore at Anfield that afternoon, with six defeats in their previous eight games spanning either side of the pandemic-enforced break.
Villa will be relieved their own curse didn’t last quite so long.
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