Comment: Renewed spirit helping Aston Villa to re-establish fan connection

Just one swing of Ezri Konsa’s right boot, coupled with some unintentional help from Tyrone Mings, transformed a result the club could just about have stomached into their biggest of the Premier League campaign so far.

In the blink of an eye, Dean Smith’s men jumped three places in the table and out of the relegation zone, with their opponents sent hurtling in the other direction.

It was perhaps the first big twist in a relegation dogfight guaranteed to feature several more between now and mid-May, not all of which are likely to go in Villa’s direction.

Once the euphoria had died down, Tuesday could also be viewed as a big night in the development of a team supporters are still learning to trust in the top flight.

Unity has been a key theme for Villa over the past 12 months, as a club for so many years divided suddenly found itself pulling as one.

Yet there have been occasions recently when the collective spirit, most crucially that between players and fans, appeared to be fraying around the edges. There was no better example, in fact, than the reverse fixture against Watford just four weeks ago today, when a 3-0 defeat (against an opponent who had played more than half an hour with 10 men) led to a sea of angry faces in the away end at the final whistle.

Back then there felt a real danger the hard work of Smith and others over the past year might rapidly unravel. A haul of seven points in the following four league games (albeit with a 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Manchester City included) has at least restored a sense of stability, even though plenty of hard work still lies ahead if Villa are to find their way out of trouble.

There was also a sense, on Tuesday, of the connection between team and supporters being repaired. Douglas Luiz’s impromptu dive into the Holte End after levelling the scores provided a quite literal example and felt symbolic in that regard.

The Brazilian midfielder is one of several summer signings who, while showing glimpses of their potential, have been unable to deliver the consistency which might have made Villa’s season anything other than a battle against the drop. Tuesday was Luiz’s second productive performance off the bench in the space of just four days, after he set up Jack Grealish’s equaliser in last Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Brighton.

Smith will hope it is evidence the 21-year-old is adapting to the pace and physicality of the Premier League, while the battling qualities displayed by him and several other top flight rookies has probably been the biggest positive following the dismal defeat at Vicarage Road.

The dramatic manner of Tuesday’s victory, meanwhile, should further raise confidence among players they can emerge from the long-term battle victorious. Recruiting another, more experienced striker to supplement new signing Mbwana Samatta would also help and the success, or otherwise, of the final days of the transfer window might still prove decisive.

But at a time when they were beginning to lose faith, Villa have at the very least given fans a reason to believe in them again.

For this week, that was enough.