Aston Villa Recap: Villans defeat Barnsley 3-1

A Scott Hogan double followed by a fine finish from Conor Hourihane secured all three points for Aston Villa as the claret and blue beat Barnsley 3-1 at Villa Park.

Prelude

Just before kick-off, there was a minute’s applause in memory of the late Cyrille Regis who passed away last week. The applause was joined by a chorus of “There’s only one Cyrille Regis” from the whole stadium and many others across the country. A fitting tribute to the former Aston Villa, West Brom and Coventry player.

First Half

Friday night’s draw between Derby and Bristol City gave Villa the chance to close the gap on 2nd to only three points. This seemed to spur us on as we came out the blocks flying. Within the first couple of minutes Albert Adomah had swung in two dangerous crosses from the left which Barnsley only just managed to clear. They were a warning of what was to come.

Next: Aston Villa vs. Barnsley: Player Grades

On the fifth minute Elmohamady crossed into the near post. A sliding Barnsley defender missed the clearance and Scott Hogan was left open to confidently guide the ball into the bottom corner. It was Hogan’s third goal in as many games and he rightly celebrated in front of the Holte End.

(Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images) /

Only one minute later, Hogan got his fourth of the season to double our lead.

Aston Villa drove forward straight after Barnsley’s kick-off and won a corner. Snodgrass delivered the ball into the six-yard box, Chester ran to the near-post, leaving Hogan free. Barnsley goalkeeper Adam Davies came and flapped at the ball as Hogan headed it into the open net – his third headed goal and fourth overall in three games.

Hogan almost had a chance for a ten-minute hat-trick after Adomah found space down the left. His cross into the box was headed clear by Liam Lindsay. Barnsley broke quickly and in typical Villa fashion we made hard work of what should have been a comfortable lead. Barnsley won a corner from our attack, Stevie Mallan took it. His ball into the near post found the unmarked Dimitri Cavaré who’s rocket header beat Sam Johnson.

Thankfully we didn’t sit back and let Barnsley come at us. Instead we tried to control the ball and on the nineteenth minute it paid off. The impressive Grealish wriggled through two players and into the Barnsley box before passing to Conor Hourihane who had made a late run. Hourihane slotted it into the bottom corner to score Villa’s third, against his former club no less.

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Villa then had plenty of chances to really kill the game off before half-time. First, James Chester found himself free after a corner but could only head wide. Then, both Snodgrass and Adomah put crosses into the box, both were unconvincingly cleared by a shaky Barnsley defense. It looked like Villa could run riot and we could have if it wasn’t for a good save from Adam Davies on the 36th-minute. Grealish found some space and curled a right-footed shot towards the bottom corner but Davies parried it away.

Second Half

Barnsley made a change at half-time bringing on Jason McCarthy for Adam Hammill and at first it seemed like it had no effect. After neat play down the left, Adomah cut the ball back to Hogan who’s shot cannoned off the crossbar. Shortly after, Conor Hourihane could have had his second. Grealish again ran at the Barnsley defense and played the ball into Hourihane’s path. This time, his left-footed effort was drilled wide.

Then came the customary Villa sit-back which allowed Barnsley to gain confidence and create a number of good chances. The first fell to Kieffer Moore who almost capitalized on a mistake by Chester but skied his effort well over the bar after driving into the box. Then Tom Bradshaw saw a great chance saved by Sam Johnstone to secure our two-goal lead. Not for the first time this season he impressed.

Following this spell of Barnsley pressure Steve Bruce opted to tighten things up and brought on Josh Onomah, Glenn Whelan and Keinan Davis to shore things up.

Villa Verdict

Villa stay in fourth as Cardiff’s draw in the late kick-off keeps them in third. The club, has, however, closed the gap on second-place Derby County to only three points.

This was another important win as Barnsley would have gained confidence from their draw with Wolves last weekend. To beat them comfortably and create enough chances to score more only builds confidence. Scott Hogan has hit form at the perfect time.

The winning run continues to four league wins from four in 2018 and we will look to continue that against Sheffield United in ten days’ time on Tuesday, the 30th of January. ‘Til then, UTV!

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