Aston Villa 1-0 Yeovil Town: 3 straight wins after Carabao Cup victory

Under the Sky Sports camera lights, Aston Villa returned home victorious in Somerset. The claret and blues *narrowly* defeated League Two side Yeovil Town in the EFL Cup first round.

Breathe. And Exhale.

Aston Villa’s narrow 1-0 victory is all that will count in the end.

It wasn’t pretty. In fact, it was downright ugly. A classic lower league English battle ensued at Huish Park. Yeovil, punching far above their weight, with multiple absences of their own, nearly battled a rotating Villa squad into penalties.

It took André Moreira saving a 1 v. 1 opportunity and second-half penalty + Conor Hourihane’s tap-in to advance. The Portuguese shot-stopper had an interesting game, to say the least. On one had, he single-handedly saved Aston Villa’s skin with those stops. On the other, he looked frankly shocking with the ball. But nerves are to be expected in his Villa debut, and more cup matches are key for his continued development.

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy was awarded a full start in the absence of Keinan Davis and Scott Hogan at centre-forward. The Villa team, in a 4-5-1 of sorts, certainly did RHM no favors in a lone forward role. He was replaced shortly after the 60th-minute by Jonathan Kodjia.

In defense, Ritchie De Laet made a long-awaited return under Steve Bruce. He looked fairly rusty, but the Belgian put himself into some attacking positions at right back. Centrally, Tommy Elphick enjoyed better days, but ultimately earned the clean sheet assist. Axel Tuanzebe was quietly very decent.

The 3-man midfield struggled mightily. The trio of Glenn Whelan, Jake Doyle-Hayes, and Conor Hourihane could not dictate possession at Huish Park and looked incredibly slow cycling the ball.

It took Jack Grealish, Jonathan Kodjia, and James Bree to save the day of the bench, but advance we did and that’s all that matters. (Well, that and no noticeable injuries).

The second-round draw takes place Thursday @ 7 p.m. GMT. All Premier League clubs not included in European competition ( + Stoke City and Swansea City) will enter the draw. The drawing is not seeded so Aston Villa could draw anywhere from P.L to League Two, though it is regionalized North/South.