Brentford B ended the Premier League Cup group stage on a positive as the Bees secured a 3-2 win at the Laithwaite Community Stadium on Friday.
With the media attention again honed in on new signing Romeo Beckham, who started on the bench, Brentford showcased their might as they took a two-goal lead into the break without breaking a sweat.
Villa fought back in the second half, scoring twice in quick succession, to give the match a dramatic climax, but it proved insignificant as they were either side of an Alex Gilbert penalty.
The result sees Brentford finish at the top of Group D with five wins out of six in their debut campaign in the competition. For Aston Villa, it cements their place at the bottom of the group.
Story of the match
Neil MacFarlane took full advantage of the players available to him. Matthew Cox returned in goal to replace a trialist; Daniel Oyegoke, Tristan Crama and Val Adedokun made up the back three.
Fin Stevens returned following his loan at Swansea City to start at right wing-back, alongside a midfield two of Yehor Yarmoliuk and Ryan Trevitt. Aaron Hickey, getting his first minutes in a Brentford shirt since October, occupied the left wing-back spot.
Leading the line was Alex Gilbert, with Michael Olakigbe on his left and J'Neil Bennett on the right.
Aston Villa made four changes from their win over Newcastle United Under-21s on Monday.
Oli Zych was behind a back four of Frankie Ealing, Jack McDowell, Aaron O'Reilly and Seb Revan; a midfield comprising of Hayden Lindley, Lamare Bogarde and Arjan Raikhy; and Delcan Frith, who was accompanied by Tommi O'Reilly and Chisom Afoka.
It was a quiet opening stages of the game as Villa sat off and allowed Brentford to circulate the ball in their own half. Crama had a penalty shout waived away by referee Andrew Humphries before the visitors struck a free-kick just wide of the post.
Brentford B opened the scoring in the 17th-minute with their first shot of the game. Gilbert's low-driven corner was met by Trevitt at the near post who fired a first-time shot past Zych.
Tony Carrs' side grew into the game and began to have sustained periods of possession, moving the ball around the edge of Brentford's area. The Bees remained compact around the penalty spot, making it difficult to break through.
Against the run of play, Brentford doubled their lead. As Villa attempted to play out of the back, Yarmoliuk dispossessed Lindley on the edge of area and drove towards goal and calmly slid the ball past Zych with his left foot just after the half-hour mark.
Villa continued their sustained pressure but were proving to be susceptible on the counter and Olakigbe almost made it three after being threaded in by Hickey, but was denied by a fine save.
Moments later Cox was forced into action for the first time, as a Villa cross from the left fell to Ealing at the back to meet on the half-volley. The 19-year-old got down to his left quickly to parry it out of danger.
The Villains went into the second half with intent and were to quick to force Cox into action again, as Afoka's curling effort from outside of the area was well kept out - Cox got down to redirect the ball past his left-hand post.
Hickey then came close to scoring on his return to action, when Gilbert combined with Olakigbe to put the 18-year-old into an area to fire a low-driven cross into the direction of the Scotsman. However, it was intercepted before he could latch onto it.
Brentford pushed on for a third and MacFarlane was left furious on the touchline after the hour mark, as Olakigbe fell in the area after beating Ealing. The referee did not see eye to eye and waived play on.
Carrs' side was much improved in the second half and tested the keeper again as O'Reilly was threaded into a promising position. He chose to shoot from a tight angle which made it simple for Cox to tip the ball over the bar.
The visitors were soon rewarded for their efforts, as they halved the deficit in the 75th-minute. Cox was unable to make a clean connection on his punch and the ball fell kindly for Lindley to fire towards goal. His effort took a deflection to wrong-foot the goalkeeper.
Their hope of a comeback lasted as long as their celebrations, as less than a minute later Brentford reinstated their two-goal lead. Trevitt was brought down in the area and, despite his effort to claim the spot-kick, Gilbert stepped up and calmly converted the penalty.
The game's sudden burst of life continued, as Villa again pulled one back in the 78th-minute when a shot deflected into the path of Frith on the penalty spot to smash a left-footed strike into the net.
Villa continued to push and came close to an equaliser, but Cox's quick thinking to dive at O'Reilly's feet denied them the chance to earn a point.
Player of the match: Michael Olakigbe
Brentford have a real gem on their hands in Michael Olakigbe.
The 18-year-old was causing havoc on the wings until he was substituted in the 80th minute. Aston Villa found it difficult to contend with his speed and willingness to take his man on.
While he may not have contributed to a goal, he proved to be a valuable outlet for Brentford B on the counter and when he received the ball there was a sense that something was going to happen.
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