Aston Villa had their main man, Ollie Watkins, to thank for their 3-1 comeback win against an awkward Bournemouth side, who took an early lead thanks to their main man, Dominic Solanke.
The game started relatively slow but quickly picked up after a flurry of chances from Villa early in the game.
But it was the away side that took the lead in the 31st minute after Matty Cash brought down Milos Kerkez, and top goalscorer Dominic Solanke converted the penalty for his 18th goal of the season.
Despite looking a little slow and tired up top throughout the half, Villa found a reply in Morgan Rogers during first-half added time, as the forward cut inside to strike a powerful shot into the top of the net.
The second half saw a different Aston Villa team come out and momentum slowly turned in their favour as the half progressed.
And in the 57th minute, they took advantage of their early dominance as Moussa Diaby pounced upon a decisive Ollie Watkins pass between two defenders to slot it neatly past the oncoming Neto.
Villa extended their lead after a goal from Jamaican international Leon Bailey, who tapped the ball into an empty net after Watkins’ wide shot slipped under the Bournemouth goalkeeper.
By this point, Villa were in complete control of the game and despite a few late chances for Bournemouth, they successfully rounded off a great week for the club with this 3-1 victory at Villa Park.
The win sees Aston Villa go six points clear of Tottenham Hotspur in fifth place, strengthening their push for Champions League football next season and taking their unbeaten home run to five games.
For Bournemouth, the result keeps them mid-table with their hopes of European football fading fast.
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Story of the Match
After their hard-fought, dramatic victory on Thursday night against LOSC Lille, Aston Villa came into the game making a couple of changes due to injury and suspension.
Morgan Rogers and Leon Bailey replaced the suspended Douglas Luiz and Nicolo Zaniolo, who had to be forced off during the midweek fixture in France.
Andoni Iraola was forced to make only one change from his side's game last Saturday against Manchester United as Lloyd Kelly came in for the injured Luis Sinisterra.
Antoine Semenyo returned to the team but only made the bench due to fitness issues, as Milos Kerkez started on the left wing after an impressive attacking display last weekend.
Aston Villa came into the game sitting fourth in the table and unbeaten in four home games.
Eager to build upon their impressive victory last Sunday against Arsenal, a win today would strengthen their push towards Champions League qualification by going six points clear of Tottenham Hotspur in fifth place.
For Bournemouth, it was an opportunity to end the day in the top ten - the first time since their opening-day draw versus West Ham.
European football next season remained an outside possibility but would be more likely with a win.
The game started scrappy within the first ten minutes as both teams struggled to find any rhythm to their play.
Ollie Watkins almost gave Aston Villa the perfect start when he cleverly got away from his man to open some space for a powerful shot, only for the tall stature of Ukrainian Illya Zabarnyi to block his shot.
And after a few more wasteful opportunities from the home side, it was Bournemouth who started to find their flair by quickly switching play and using the overlaps to great effect.
Their attacking efforts finally paid off when winger Milos Kerkez was brought down by Matty Cash with no complaints from the offender.
Despite the heroics of the Villa 'keeper in midweek, Emi Martinez couldn’t stop the shot from in-form striker Dominic Solanke who powered his penalty high into the top left corner on 31 minutes, leaving Martinez with no chance and taking his tally up to 18 for the season.
But just as Bournemouth thought they might be ending the half with the lead, Leon Bailey sprayed a perfect ball wide from the centre circle to teammate, and former Cherry, Morgan Rogers, who calmly cut the ball back past the defender and fired into the top of goal from inside the six-yard box during first-half added time.
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Second half
After a relatively even showing in the first 45 minutes, Aston Villa began to take control of the game and came out of the blocks quickly.
As Villa grew more into the game, so did Watkins as he worked hard to earn himself some space before disappointingly firing a tame shot straight at Neto early on.
Watkins remained a thorn in the side of the Bournemouth defenders and his persistence paid off on 57 minutes.
Diaby latched onto a perfect through-ball from the striker to easily pass the ball beyond Neto. This was Watkins’ 11th assist for the season.
From this point on, Villa looked in cruise control with only a few threats coming from the away side, mostly notably a back-post Dango Ouattara header on the hour mark which was easily saved by Martinez.
Iraola responded to his team's lack of possession and threat by making bold attacking substitutions in the form of Antoine Semenyo, Alex Scott and Phillip Billing.
But it was to no avail, as Watkins once again tormented the Bournemouth defence.
A quick break occurred in midfield and with Bournemouth players struggling to track runs, Watkins broke wide to an oncoming Neto.
With little space or time, the striker somehow managed to get a shot away under the keeper, giving fellow teammate Leon Bailey an open goal to smash the ball into on 78 minutes.
Turkish striker Enes Unal came close a couple of times for Bournemouth and even had the ball in the back of the net in the 80th minute, only for it to be ruled out for offside as the seasiders eventually ran out of time and ideas.
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Man of the Match: Ollie Watkins
Whilst it took him some time to get going, Watkins proved to be the driving force behind his team's comeback.
Watkins is having a ruthless scoring season, but it was his ability to assist that really caught the eye today as he helped carve out goals for Diaby and Bailey in the second half.
He stretched the Bournemouth defence on multiple occasions and ended up getting the better of the physical duel with Bournemouth defender Zabarnyi today as he led his team to victory.
