Aston Villa ended a four-match losing run versus Bournemouth on Saturday, earning a 3-0 victory against them to extend their unbeaten run to four successive matches in the Premier League.
Brazilian Douglas Luiz fired home his first of the campaign since January, while Jacob Ramsey and Emiliano Buendia also found the mark as the Lions posted their second successive clean sheet at Villa Park.
The home team took the lead on seven minutes when a shot attempt from the in-form Ollie Watkins found Leon Bailey down the right, as the Jamaican squared his ball inside the six-yard box to the Brazilian, who made no mistake.
Luiz also played a big part in the two insurance goals, as his deep midfield free kick found Watkins, who cushioned his header into the path of Ramsey, who fired home his third of the campaign to make it 2-0.
Tyrone Mings flicked on a corner from Luiz in the 89th minute towards Buendia who sealed the victory with a third, scoring his fifth of the season.
Up by one Villa came close to doubling the lead in the first half on a great counter as Emiliano Buendia found Bailey in the box, but he was well-marked, and Bournemouth cleared the danger.
Both goalkeepers were called into action on a few occasions in the opening half as Emiliano Martinez denied Dominic Solanke, who was playing his 150th Premier League match, palming away his bending effort for a corner.
Neto kept the visitors within striking distance as Villa created another turnover when Buendia picked out Watkins in the box, but the Brazilian did well to palm away the attempted chip.
Villa had another big chance to go ahead 2-0 minutes before the end of the half when a short corner from John McGinn came to Ramsey, who saw his first-time effort deflected over the bar by Jack Stephens.
Replays showed the ball struck the arm of Stephens, but a VAR check deemed it was not a penalty, with the visitors seemingly getting away with one.
The man on loan from Southampton escaped punishment in the second half, blocking a centring pass by Alex Moreno with his arm, but once again, VAR felt it was not enough to merit a penalty.
The visitors struggled to contain the Villa pace in the second half and were fortunate not to go behind by two when Watkins created his own space, twisting past Stephens but firing his shot straight at Neto.
A powerful free-kick from Bournemouth's top goalscorer Philip Billing nearly levelled the match just beyond the hour mark, but a splendid reaction from Martinez in the Villa goal thwarted him.
Bournemouth failed to generate much after that, conceding twice in the latter stages as they remain in 19th place with 24 points.
Gary O'Neil's men have now lost nine of their last 10 away fixtures in all competitions, while Villa manager Unai Emery maintained his 100% record against the Cherries, having beaten them three times while in charge of Arsenal.
Villa have now taken 26 points from their 14 league matches under Emery, in contrast to 12 points from their opening 13 fixtures this season.
Next up, Villa will travel to Stamford Bridge for a date with Chelsea on April 1st, while Bournemouth return to Vitality Stadium on that same day to host Fulham.
Joel Lefevre
