JUMPING JACK FLASH!
Grealish saves best till last as Villa avoid £200m catastrophe
IF this was Jack Grealish’s last game for Aston Villa, it is certain that he will remember it vividly for the rest of his life.
the Villa captain, a transfer target for Manchester United, thought he had scored the goal that would keep his boyhood club safe from relegation when his ferocious shot flashed past Lukasz Fabianski six minutes from time.
Victory was certain to make Villa safe but their agony was prolonged when substitute Andriy Yarmolenko equalised with a strike that deflected off Grealish.
Villa were ready to celebrate at full-time but manager Dean smith urged them to calm down as they awaited confirmation of the result of the match between Arsenal and Watford.
Players, coaches and other backroom staff waited in a huddle for 90 tense seconds until the news arrived that they were safe.
scotland star John McGinn leaped on top of his team-mates and trezeguet peeled away from the crowd, screaming with joy.
the ‘£200million catastrophe’ — as chief executive Christian Purslow labelled relegation in May — had been avoided and if Grealish does now leave the club he loves, what a way this was to do so.
the £140m spent on players after promotion from the Championship is no longer — at least for now — a stick to beat Villa with.
huge credit must go to smith, who was on the verge of losing his job when Villa lost 4-0 at Leicester in March, four days before the coronavirus pandemic halted the Premier League.
he used lockdown to improve Villa’s defending beyond recognition and that, as much as Grealish’s moment of inspiration, was what kept them up in the end. At one stage, Villa were seven points from safety but smith kept calm, kept focused and never stopped believing. Eight points from their final four games proved decisive as they survived on the last day at the expense of Watford and Bournemouth.
Villa had lost all nine of their previous matches in London and Michail Antonio should have given West ham an early lead.
Ezri Konsa misjudged a long ball forward from issa Diop, giving Antonio a free run on goal, but the forward — with eight goals since the restart — could only guide his effort wide of a post.
Mbwana samatta could do no better at the other end moments later when he headed Frederic Guilbert’s right-wing cross straight at Fabianski.
With tyrone Mings and Pepe Reina bellowing instructions, Villa