Matheus Pereira cut above the rest as West Brom pegged back by a late equaliser against Aston Villa

West Brom’s Brazilian magician was the spotlight in their 2-2 draw against local rivals, Aston Villa. Matheus Pereira caused plenty of trouble throughout the 90 minutes, rattling the crossbar most notably from his freekick.

The Eight-Million-pound man graced centre stage on the soil of Villa Park with flair, pace and threatening presence. The Villans had their work cut out in order to deal with Pereira who has been a shining light in Albion’s relegation dogfight.

Pereira has been involved in 48% of West Brom’s goals this season, the winger ranks second in the league behind Harry Kane who has contributed to 61% of Tottenham Hotspurs’ goals. The 24-year-old has now scored nine goals so far this campaign, seven of those have been away from home.

Dean Smith’s men took the lead in the eighth minute through a penalty as a result of Albion’s Semi Ajayi bringing down Ross Barkley in the box. Of course no one else but Anwar El Ghazi was the man to take the spot kick, the Dutchman buried his effort into the bottom left corner past Sam Johnstone.

Despite falling behind early, Sam Allardyce’s side continued to pick at Villa’s defence – which eventually paid off. Ezri Konsa brought down Ainsley Maitland-Niles, despite a VAR check the original decision stood. Pereira was the man to take for Albion, who slotted home past Emi Martinez.

West Brom would go onto finish the half as the better side, almost taking the lead before the break on a number of occasions. The closest came via their Brazilian magician who struck the crossbar from his freekick.

West Bromwich Albion's last 10 goals in the Premier League:

Scored by Pereira
Scored by Pereira
Scored by Robinson
Scored by Diagne
Scored by Pereira
Scored by Pereira
Assisted by Diagne
Scored by Robinson
Scored by Pereira
Scored by Diagne#WBA pic.twitter.com/lX34O8PAed

— bet365 (@bet365) April 25, 2021

Albion would go onto have a dream start to the second half, a lofty ball played by Johnstone reeked hassle for the Villa defence. Konsa failed to control the ball which allowed for Mbaye Diagne to collect possession, then side footing his effort into the far corner – rubbing salt in the wounds for their hosts.

Going a goal down would prove to be the Villans’ wakeup call, Smith’s side would go onto have plenty of opportunities put themselves level. However, their former shot stopper in Johnstone proved to be of great annoyance. The England international produced a number of fine stops to keep Albion the lead, not even Ollie Watkins’ best efforts could beat the keeper.

Academy graduate, Keinan Davis, would prove to be the hero on the day for the hosts. Coming on as a late substitute, the forward cannoned a shot off of the post within moments of stepping foot onto the pitch. The 23-year-old would go onto score his first league goal in three years for Aston Villa, netting in the 91^st minute as Smith’s men would go onto snatch a cruel point from their rivals.

Villa equalise in stoppage time ??

Keinan Davis claims his first Premier League goal after a mix up between the West Brom players! pic.twitter.com/fHQTb4UeOn

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 25, 2021

A mix-up in the Albion penalty area proved to be costly, Davis managed to nip in before Kyle Bartley could clear his lines. Villa’s number 39 poked home, costing the Baggies what would’ve been a massive boost in their bid for survival.

Now only five matches remain for West Brom and the task of avoiding relegation is becoming trickier, if the West Midlands club fail to stay up, it may spell the end of Pereira’s Albion career. With the Brazilian attracting plenty of interest, keeping hold of the winger will prove to be as hard of a task as surviving in the top-flight.

Ending on a positive note for Villa, Wesley made his return to Premier League football for the first time in 480 days with the Brazilian coming on as a late substitute. The 24-year-old will look to get more minutes under his belt as the season draws to a close.

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