5 games that cost Roberto Di Matteo the Aston Villa job

September 27, 2016: Barnsley 1-1 Aston Villa (Championship)

Villa’s Ayew – Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.

After further stalemates against Ipswich Town and Newcastle United respectively, next up was newly promoted Barnsley.

Now; given that the Tykes were in League One last term, with Villa in the Premier League at the same time, there should have only been one winner at Oakwell.

An away win was on the cards as Jordan Ayew found the bottom corner brilliantly after 61 minutes, but Villa’s self-destruct button was pushed once again in the dying embers of this encounter.

Sam Winnall headed in Cole Kpekawa’s cross on the stroke of full-time to see Di Matteo’s men throw away another valuable three points at the death – meaning the club had now dropped 11 points from winning positions in their opening 10 league games.