Match report
A hard-fought 90 minutes at Villa Park on Friday night ultimately culminated in Unai Emery’s hosts putting struggling Leeds United to the sword by two goals to one, piling yet further pressure on the shoulders of Jesse Marsch.
The game’s scoring was opened by way of the very first chance, inside three minutes.
This came as a corner at one end opened the door for Aston Villa to break in ruthless fashion, before Ollie Watkins slipped in Leon Bailey to finish in style:
From here, Leeds battled hard, and will no doubt count themselves hard done by not to have pulled one back before the half.
A combination of offside decisions, last-ditch defending and Emiliano Martinez brilliance, though, ensured that it was Villa who headed in at the break with their lead intact.
Then, after at times riding their luck, the Claret and Blue went on to bag what ultimately proved the game’s telling goal.
Leon Bailey was central once more, in seeing his initial effort kept out by Illan Meslier, only for Emi Buendia to nod home on the rebound:
Leeds, late on, did manage to pull one back courtesy of substitute Patrick Bamford, but the damage had long been done, en route to a 2-1 final scoreline.
Player ratings
Aston Villa
Emi Martinez - 6
Ashley Young - 6.5
Ezri Konsa - 7
Tyrone Mings - 6
Lucas Digne - 5
Douglas Luiz - 7.5
Boubacar Kamara - 7
Jacob Ramsey - 6.5
Leon Bailey - 7
Emi Buendia - 6.5
Ollie Watkins - 5.5
Substitutes: Alex Moreno - 6, Philippe Coutinho - 5.5, Morgan Sanson - 5, Danny Ings - 5
Leeds United
Illan Meslier - 5.5
Luke Ayling - 5.5
Robin Koch - 6
Liam Cooper - 5.5
Pascal Struijk - 5
Marc Roca - 4.5
Tyler Adams - 7
Brenden Aaronson - 4.5
Jack Harrison - 5.5
Wilfried Gnonto - 7.5
Rodrigo - 6
Substitutes: Max Wober - 6, Joe Gelhardt - 6.5, Patrick Bamford - 7, Sam Greenwood - 5.5, Junior Firpo - 5
Fan reaction/Key stats
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