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Aston Villa Claim First Home Win

By Hayden Dutton

TELFORD, ENGLAND - JULY 16: Roberto Di Matteo the head coach / manager of Aston Villa during the pre-season friendly match between AFC Telford United and Aston Villa at the New Bucks Head Stadium on July 16, 2016 in Telford, England. (Photo by James Baylis - AMA/Getty Images)
TELFORD, ENGLAND - JULY 16: Roberto Di Matteo the head coach / manager of Aston Villa during the pre-season friendly match between AFC Telford United and Aston Villa at the New Bucks Head Stadium on July 16, 2016 in Telford, England. (Photo by James Baylis - AMA/Getty Images) /
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Aston Villa have today, won their first game of the season and broke the 6 month break between three points for the team. A stunning brace from Rudy Gestede and Jack Grealish’s first goal in front of the Holte End at Villa Park were the difference in a energised win over relegation favorites Rotherham.

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – This was Jack Grealish’s first goal in front of the Holte End faithful.
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – This was Jack Grealish’s first goal in front of the Holte End faithful. /

The game started brightly, Aly Cissokho; with his first dribble of the game produced a stunning shot that forced a corner and very nearly ended up in the net. It continued to be all Villa, with Ross McCormack firing shots and giving their keeper a lot of work to do. The break-through came with a lovely flash cross from Aly slicing across the red’s backline and finding Gestede who finished it with precision with his head.

Villa continued to dominate the game, whilst letting their opponents hold possesion, every mistake was punished by the backline of Cissokho, Chester, Elphick and Bacuna. Every chance they carved out was saved, and every half-chance was cleared and counter attacked. It was through this method that Di Matteo’s men found their second goal, through a genius lofted by McCormack which landed straight at the feet of Rudy who didn’t hesitate to chip it over the keeper and make it 2-0 before half-time.

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – Di Matteo’s men carried the intensity from their first league match into their second, but were far more clinical in front of goal.
SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – Di Matteo’s men carried the intensity from their first league match into their second, but were far more clinical in front of goal. /

The second half brought much of the same from the first; Di Matteo deemed no first half subs necessary following the spirited performance from the opening 45 minutes. It was clear Villa were keen to once again let the opponents dominate possession and hit them on the break, Ayew almost teed up Gestede for his hat-trick but his shot was just wide of the far post. Rotherham entered a nice spell, winning a lot of set pieces and swaying general play in their favour.

Around 20-30 minutes of this tug-of-war style of play continued, until the impact sub Adama game on, and completely changed the pace of the game. Villa were weathering a storm when he was subbed on, but a few minutes later Jack Grealish latched onto a ball from Rudy and ran straight through their defence and round their keeper, slotting it home cooly for his first ever home goal.

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