Leeds United 0 Aston Villa 3 - Report
Steven Gerrard reckons last month’s 3-3 draw with Leeds taught him more about his Villa team than any other match in his four-month reign.
Last night’s reverse fixture, then, demonstrated how much the lessons of that night have been learned.
This time all the goals ended up in the Leeds net, as Villa cruised to a 3-0 win which sent them into the top half of their Premier League and their opponents deeper into trouble.
If you want an idea of how badly Jesse Marsch’s first match at Elland Road went, with 15 minutes remaining a sizeable portion of the home crowd were chanting the name of his predecessor Marcelo Bielsa.
By then Villa were already home and hosed, Calum Chambers having set the seal on an impressive performance with a sublime strike, after goals from Philippe Coutinho and Matty Cash had put the visitors in control.
It is only a fortnight since Gerrard’s men looked in danger of being sucked into a dogfight at the wrong end of the table. Now the question is how far they can climb over the final 11 matches. They head to West Ham on Sunday nine points behind the sixth-placed Hammers but with a game in hand.
For the first time this season they have won three matches in a row, keeping three clean sheets in the process. Solid at the back, their attacking potential has also begun to blossom. They have followed their biggest home win of the season with their biggest on the road.
Gerrard had Ezri Konsa and Lucas Digne back available after both missed Saturday’s 4-0 thumping Southampton with positive Covid-19 tests. But it was only the latter who returned to the starting XI, Chambers keeping his place alongside Tyrone Mings in the heart of defence.
A repeat of the first half from Villa Park, where the teams shared five goals, never looked on the cards in a scrappy opening where both struggled to find any rhythm.
Villa looked in danger of being sucked into a battle, increasingly rattled by the taunts of a home crowd who set their sights on unsettling Mings.
It worked, in part, the visiting skipper skewing two passes into the stands, while Digne was lucky to avoid embarrassment when his clearance was charged down by Raphinha but went straight to an offside Dan James. Ollie Watkins was then relieved to see his lunge at Luke Ayling only receive a yellow card.
The game was crying out for some quality and when Danny Ings delivered, it led to the opener. His flick released Digne into space and though the cross was too far in front of a diving Watkins, Cash retrieved the loose ball and crossed for Coutinho, whose shot looked like being comfortable for Illan Meslier before Pascal Struijk stuck out a leg to send it beyond his team-mate and into the net.
The goal seemed to settle Villa and they had chances to increase the lead before the break. Douglas Luiz should have done better with a header from a Cash cross and was then denied by Meslier when he attempted to catch the goalkeeper napping with a free-kick.
Things were getting increasingly busy for the French shot-stopper, who was fortunate to avoid disaster when he hit his clearance straight to Watkins, the striker unable to react in time.
Meslier then saved his team from faling further behind with an impressive save to push a curling, right-footed John McGinn effort round the post, before Luiz hit a long-range effort right at the keeper as the half-time whistle approached.
Leeds were struggling to get any foothold in the game but immediately looked more threatening from the restart, Raphinha getting in behind Digne and sending in a low cross which Cash cleared from in front of Joe Gelhardt, who had replaced Rodrigo at the break. Volume levels among the home supporters then increased further when Mings was booked for barging James off the ball.
Bamford’s return after three months out injured as a 58th minute substitute received a standing ovation but it was Villa who had the next chance, Coutinho and Ings working the ball to McGinn, whose first time shot was straight at Meslier. The Scot then went into the book for barging over Bamford as the temperature inside Elland Road moved a notch higher.
Yet as home fans grew hopeful it was Villa who struck again. Ings’ superb crossfield pass found Cash in acres of space on the right and after stepping inside the challenge of Firpo he slammed a shot under Meslier to silence all but the pocket of travelling supporters, who celebrated with glee.
There were still 25 minutes remaining at that point but Leeds already looked beaten. After Coutinho had narrowly failed to beat Meslier with a backheel finish, Chambers piled on more misery when he curled home brilliantly from the edge of the box for his first Villa goal.
Teams
Leeds (4-2-3-1): Meslier, Dallas, Ayling, Struijk, Firpo, Forshaw, Koch, Raphinha, Rodrigo (Gelhardt HT), Harrison (Bamford 58), James Subs not used: Llorente, Cresswell, Summerville, Greenwood, Klich, Shackleton, Klaesson (gk).
Villa (4-3-1-2): Martinez, Cash, Chambers, Mings, Digne, McGinn, Luiz (Young 86), Ramsey, Coutinho (Buendia 77), Ings (Sanson 71), Watkins Subs not used: Konsa, Iroegbunam, Chukwuemeka, Bailey, Traore, Olsen (gk).
