Rudy Gestede opens his Aston Villa account to sink Bournemouth

Still Villa continued to push and substitute Gestede should have done better with his first chance for Tim Sherwood’s side, dragging a volley wide nine minutes after coming on.

Aston Villa have little gain and everything to lose when they travel to Bournemouth for their opening game of the Premier League season at Dean Court on Saturday.

Marc Pugh had the hosts’ first sight of goal when he headed over and Dan Gosling wasted a golden opportunity when the Bournemouth midfielder pounced on a loose ball, only to slam his shot over the crossbar from 12 yards.

Revitalised by the astute management of Eddie Howe and the petrochemical fortune of Russian investor Maxim Demin, Bournemouth have embarked on a fairytale journey to the top tier. Striker Callum Wilson then had squandered a good chance after racing clear with Brad Guzan making the stop, and the U.S. global was called into action just before half time as Pugh saw his powerful show well-saved.

Aston Villa have also had plenty of changes to their squad since surviving relegation last season. “We certainly don’t want to be down the bottom end of the table for long periods as this club has been for a long time now”. But as we know at this level we need to be clinical at both ends.

Aston Villa have never beaten a newly promoted Premier League side on opening day (D1 L2).

The visitors, who handed five players their first start for the club, grew into the game as Bournemouth’s energetic start began to take its toll, with Jordan Amavi particularly impressive down the left with his surging runs. We can compete with the best. We were disappointed with the goal.

The fixtures only get tougher now for Bournemouth though, with Howe next taking his team to Anfield to face Liverpool on Monday Night Football, a challenge the young coach is relishing. “First half they were unfortunate not to go in with the lead”, Sherwood said of Bournemouth to reporters after the game. “We will look at it, analyse it and try and improve”.