Aston Villa player ratings as Mings pulls off incredible block and Buendia scores in Burnley draw

Emi Buendia quickly turned from villain to hero as Aston Villa were held by Burnley on their final Villa Park showing of the season. The Argentinian, one of four changes by Steven Gerrard, dangled a leg to bring down Maxwel Cornet as Ashley Barnes put the Clarets ahead on the stroke of half-time but, just three minutes after the restart, the playmaker pounced to strike first-time past Nick Pope to make it 1-1.

Prior to kick-off, Gerrard did promise to freshen his starting XI up and he did just that with Buendia, Calum Chambers, Jacob Ramsey and, a surprise to most, Carney Chukwuemeka all coming into the side, with the likes of Danny Ings, Coutinho and Marvelous Nakamba no doubt rested ahead of Man City on Sunday.

To the match itself and it initially struggled to catch fire with John McGinn on a one-man mission in the first half, sending two well-struck efforts Pope's way as the England stopper did well on both occasions, tipping the ball over his crossbar.

It was the turn of Ollie Watkins after that but the top-scorer got his header all wrong after a good pick-out by Matty Cash down the right side. However, with Villa laboured for much of the first 45, it was Mike Jackson's Clarets who got themselves ahead. Cornet trapped a ball into him inside Villa's box but, after checking back, Buendia tripped him. Referee Paul Tierney awarded the penalty and Barnes made no mistake, scoring his first Premier League goal since February 2021.

Gerrard's men were booed off at the break and, after a dressing down, Villa came out of the blocks much quicker, typified when McGinn crossed for Buendia who equalised on the volley on 48 minutes. That was the Argentinian's second goal against Burnley this season after ghosting into the Clarets'