Grealish scores a royal beauty to spark Villa’s promotion bid
The Duke of Cambridge was at Villa Park to witness the club’s crown prince, Jack Grealish, spark Steve Bruce’s promotion bid back into life with an outrageous winning goal.
Sat next to former striker John Carew, Aston Villa fan Prince William would have been out of his seat after Grealish’s majestic volley five minutes from time.
It was only Villa’s second victory in six games, maintaining their slim aspirations of automatic promotion, while Cardiff’s own hopes of scrambling into the top two were damaged after Fulham’s win over Reading. Cardiff are now third, with a game in hand over Fulham, and were frustrated after an outstanding performance from goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.
The Manchester United loanee helped Villa pulled off at least two excellent saves, before Grealish struck from outside the box with a breathtaking goal.
Villa are now five points behind Fulham and Bruce said: “We all know Jack is a talent and moments like that can only come from a very good player. It’s good to see him getting the plaudits for the right reasons. We want to see him on the back pages and not the front.
“You can never say never to automatic promotion, but you have to say Fulham’s run has been remarkable. We can close the gap to two points if we beat Leeds on Friday.”
On the royal visit, Bruce said: “He came into the dressing room before the game and it’s great the future king is a Villa fan. He’s coming to the next game, for sure.”
This was a second successive defeat for Cardiff, days after manager Neil Warnock admitted there were “broken hearts” after the defeat to Wolves on Friday, when Gary Madine and Junior Hoilett both failed to score stoppage-time penalties.
Cardiff dominated for long periods and, with Villa captain John Terry absent due to an ankle problem, the pressure was on the home team. They could have fallen behind in the 16th minute.
Axel Tuanzebe was robbed on the halfway line and Kenneth Zohore released Nathaniel Mendezlaing, who struck a post. Villa escaped again in first-half injury time. Ahmed Elmohamady first cleared Sean Morrison’s shot off the line and then Johnstone produced an outstanding double save.
Johnstone was required again in the 57th minute, the goalkeeper stretching out a leg to block Zohore’s shot from finding the corner.
Villa substitute Jonathan Kodjia created a chance out of nothing, evading Morrison before shooting straight at Neil Etheridge, but Johnstone was still proving the key figure, denying Mendez-laing as Cardiff cranked up the pressure.
But Grealish grabbed the headlines in the 85th minute, crashing in a 20-yard volley.
Warnock said: “I don’t know how we haven’t won, the goalkeeper was unbelievable. You’d think Villa had won the World Cup.”
Aston Villa Booked Cardiff City
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