What a gem of a goal from Grealish
Aston Villa are clinging onto their Championship play-off hopes but absolutely leathering Derby County will do their chances no harm at all.
Villa are down in mid-table after another indifferent season but they stayed in touch with the top six by playing Frank Lampard’s Derby off the (Villa) park.
Irish midfielder Conor Hourihane scored a first-half brace and Tammy Abraham found the net but all the talk was about a stunning first 45 from Jack Grealish.
The former Ireland underage star, who later opted to represent England, found Abraham with a sublime chip over the Derby defence, after nine minutes, and the forward squared for Hourihane to slot home.
Abraham made it 2-0 before getting his second assist of the half, for Hourihane again, and the visitors were flailing.
Any hopes they had of regrouping at half-time and trying to salvage something from the game were ended by the stonking Grealish finish in injury time. Villa had a corner kick over on the left and, in a pre-rehearsed move, Glenn Whelan lofted a cross that sat up and begged to be hit.
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Grealish struck it perfectly and the volley was reminiscent of the Paul Scholes dinger at the same end of Villa Park in 2006.
He was in good form for Villa – two goals and three assists in six games – before injury saw him miss eight weeks of action.
It is little surprise that his return has resulted in an upturn in Villa’s fortunes.
