Keith Andrews described Sunday's 1-0 victory over Premier League title challenge Aston Villa as one of the best results of Brentford's season, hailing their togetherness in defence.

Brentford were given a mountain to climb at Villa Park when Kevin Schade was sent off for kicking out at Matty Cash in the 42nd minute, but they quickly shook off that setback.

Dango Ouattara fired a wonderful left-footed effort into the far corner in the opening minute of first-half stoppage time, and Brentford then withstood a second-half barrage.

After half-time, Villa had 85.6% of the possession and completed 352 passes – their most in a half of Premier League football on record (since 2003-04). Brentford completed just 39.

Villa also had 20 shots to Brentford's two in the second period, racking up 1.33 expected goals (xG) compared to 0.12 for the Bees, but the hosts only hit the target four times. 

The win lifted Brentford to seventh in the Premier League table, just five points off the top four, leaving Andrews beaming with pride.

Asked where Sunday's match ranked in his young managerial career, Andrews told Sky Sports: "This is right up there, with the circumstances, going down to 10 men. 

"The pride, performance level and the spirit of the group, it doesn't surprise me. The lads were magnificent.

"I knew we would have to defend large parts of the game. I wanted to start the second half still being able to attack. The boys still had to dig in deep."

There was one controversial moment, as returning Villa striker Tammy Abraham was denied a 49th-minute equaliser following a VAR review.

Abraham pounced on the rebound of Jadon Sancho's parried shot to slot home, but replays showed Leon Bailey had failed to keep the ball in play earlier in the move.

That incident came near Villa's corner flag, though, with a significant amount of time elapsing between the ball going out and Abraham putting it in the net, leaving the home team frustrated.

The Premier League said the ball had gone out within the same "attacking possession phase". 

Andrews, however, was unmoved by that debate, saying: "If the ball was out, the ball was out. That was my take on it."