Grealish magic show ruins Bruce’s return
THERE were no flying cabbages this time, but neither was there a happy return to Villa Park for Steve Bruce as Jack Grealish inspired a win that put the brakes on Newcastle’s recent revival.
The last time Bruce was here, re, he was in charge of Aston Villa a and had a cabbage launched in his direction by a fan during a 3- 3 draw with Preston on October 2 last year. He was sacked the following day.
This result is unlikely to produce a similar outcome for Bruce, but goals from Conor Hourihane and Anwar r El Ghazi may have planted ed more seeds of doubt in his mind. ind.
With the returning Grealish lish playing a decisive role yet again, gain, it was a crucial win for Villa a in their own survival battle as they approach a run of fixtures against
Manchester United, Chelsea, Leicester and Sheffield United.
Grealish’s display made another strong case for inclusion in the England squad, even though the man himself would rather not operate in the free attacking role manager Dean Smith has designed for him. ‘I don’t think the manager will like me saying this, but I prefer playing as a No 8,’ said Grealish. ‘He said to me he wants me to play like the Liverpool front three.
‘It’s a massive win. We’ve got a lot of pressure. Out of the three teams that came up, we spent the most money in the summer, but I’m sure we can stay up.’
Smith said: ‘ Jack is a constant threat. He gets around pitch, gets into positions where players don’t want to tackle him. He can play in a number of positions, he is quite mature now and if he keeps improving he can go all the way.’
The cabbage incident meant Bruce was unsure of the reception he would receive on his first visit to this ground since the game that sealed his sacking, but he was applauded warmly by most Villa fans as he walked to the dug- out.
His team had taken 10 points from the previous 15 and their plan was clear from the off: sit deep and use the pace of Allan Saint- Maximin and Miguel Almiron on the break.
Matt Targett’s runs from left back were the main early source of danger to the visitors, even though Targett was clearly not feeling in peak condition. In the 20th minute, he was violently sick by the touchline but passed fit to continue after treatment.
With nearly half an hour gone, a flying save from Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka to deny Douglas Luiz from 20 yards brought Villa to life, and they took the lead moments later.
DeAndre Yedlin conceded a free-kick for a foolish shove on Grealish just outside the penalty area, and after the skipper had teed him up, Hourihane curled the ball around the wall and found the large gap at Dubravka’s near post.
Four minutes later, Villa made it two. Again Grealish won a free-kick in a similar area. Again Hourihane delivered a ball Newcastle could not handle, as El Ghazi exploited defensive confusion to tap in the second.
Newcastle tried to respond and Villa had Tom Heaton, back in the team after injury, to thank in the 42nd minute when he pushed the unmarked Federico Fernandez’s header from Jonjo Shelvey’s corner over the bar.
Villa have dropped 11 points in the second half of matches this term and they started sloppily after the break here, too. Heaton made another good stop from Saint-Maximin after the forward had robbed a dawdling Frederic Guilbert.
Whenever Grealish had the ball, though, Newcastle were nervous. He played in Targett to force another corner and from it, guided the ball on to the head of Ezri Konsa, who forced a sharp stop from Dubravka.
Konsa then nearly scored at the other end with a hasty attempt at a volleyed clearance from Saint- Maximin’s cross, which flew past his near post with Heaton stranded. Bruce said: ‘ We were nowhere near as good as we have been in the last few weeks. We didn’t play well enough but we are one third of the way through the season and there is still plenty to play for.’