Aston Villa 3 Tranmere 0 - match report
Paul Lambert notched up his first win as Aston Villa boss as Tranmere Rovers were vanquished with relative ease in the Capital One Cup.
Paul Lambert notched up his first win as Aston Villa boss as Tranmere Rovers were vanquished with relative ease in the Capital One Cup.
Fabian Delph grabbed his first goal for Villa since January 2010 to open the scoring in the first half before Chris Herd and Darren Bent secured safe passage to the third round with goals after the break.
Lambert made six changes from the side which lost 3-1 to Everton including a debut for left-back Enda Stevens and a first start of the season for keeper Brad Guzan.
Villa thought they had opened the scoring in the 18th minute when Barry Bannan whipped a free-kick into the box and a combination of Nathan Baker and Bent bundled the ball into the net, but referee James Adcock spotted an infringement.
The claret and blues when close again 10 minutes later when Tranmere centre-back Ash Taylor brought Bent down on the edge of the penalty area and Bannan curled a free-kick which clipped the top of the bar.
Ireland lofted the ball over Owain Fon Williams and into the net shortly afterwards but the assistant referee had already flagged for offside.
Villa eventually broke the deadlock in the 38th minute when Fon Williams could only partially save Stevens' cross-shot and Delph was on hand at the back post to steer the ball home.
Tranmere began the second half with renewed purpose and Liam Palmer saw his shot blocked by Nathan Baker shortly after the interval.
Andreas Weimann skipped clear of the visitors defence in the 62nd minute but Fon Williams got down well to his right to save his shot from a tight angle.
The Austrian striker then missed a golden opportunity to double the lead when he headed over from close range after he was picked out by Eric Lichaj's hanging cross.
However, a concerted spell of Villa pressure eventually yielded a second goal in the 66th minute when Stephen Ireland's low cross was parried by Fon Williams and Herd bundled home from inside the six-yard box.
Andy Robinson kept Guzan on this toes with a snap shot in the 74th minute and a minute later Ireland saw a long-range effort acrobatically saved by Fon Williams.
But Villa wrapped up the victory in the 81st minute when substitute Brett Holman escaped down the right and pulled the ball back for Bent who smashed it passed Fon Williams.
By Timothy Abraham
