FIT FOR A PRINCE
Jack gem delights Villa fan William
Aroyal visitor and a regal goal. Jack Grealish struck quite possibly the sweetest shot off his burgeoning career to beat Cardiff in front off Prince William and rekindle aston Villa’s faint ambitions for automatic promotion.
There were only five minutes left when Sean Morrison cleared a robert Snodgrass free- kick towards Grealish lurking 20 yards out. rather than take a touch, the 22-year-old directed his right boot at the ball with such timing it flew through the air and went in off the post to send Villa Park into raptures.
The Duke of Cambridge was watching from the directors’ box as Grealish slid on his knees in front of Steve Bruce to crown a majestic moment. Not for the first time Grealish had received excessive attention from Neil Warnock’s side and this was some way to answer.
Victory in a tempestuous encounter keeps Villa just in touch with Fulham in the race for second, and deals a hammer blow to Cardiff, who slip out of the automatic places after two dramatic defeats in four days. Warnock’s side had been on a relentless run but three games without a win points to a future in the play-offs, even though they have a game in hand.
‘I don’t know how we’ve not won the game with those chances, their goalkeeper was unbelievable,’ said Warnock. ‘you could see what it meant to Villa, they celebrated like they’d won the World Cup. It is nice to be the hunter rather than the hunted. There will still be things happening between now and the end of the season.’
Villa are five points off Fulham but can trim the gap by beating leeds on Friday night.
‘It is all still to play for,’ said Grealish. ‘all we can do is keep on winning, then we will see where it takes us.’
Cardiff’s defeat by Wolves last Friday ended in acrimony when Warnock and Nuno Espirito Santo traded barbs after two missed penalties in the final seconds.
and Warnock’s side almost picked up by suffering again here, when inside two minutes Snodgrass slipped a clever pass to lewis Grabban, who hit the side-netting. Cardiff went closer a short time later when Nathaniel Mendezlaing hit the post after being played in by Kenneth Zohore.
Cardiff finished the half strongly when Sam Johnstone produced two excellent saves after Joe Bennett’s free-kick caused chaos. First the Villa goalkeeper reacted sharply when Glenn Whelan diverted the ball towards his own goal. Then Johnstone stood up to a firm shot by Callum Paterson.
after the break Cardiff’s customarily agricultural approach to tackling increased, with Grealish a persistent sufferer.
Johnstone kept Cardiff at bay again, sticking out a leg to deny Zohore.
Bruce sent on Jonathan Kodjia and he produced a beautiful moment of skill to put Morrison on the floor before driving a shot that Neil Etheridge saved at the second attempt. Grabban then sent Conor Hourihane clear, but he finished wide. a Grealish backheel set up Hourihane for a strike punched wide by Etheridge.
Johnstone summoned another exemplary save with eight minutes left when Mendez-laing cut in from the left and hit a rocket shot. But it paled in comparison to the volley from Grealish.
‘Jack certainly earned his dough tonight,’ said Bruce. ‘It was always going to take a little bit of magic. I think the game of football won in the end, which I’m pleased about.’
Bruce said Prince William visited the Villa dressing room before kick- off. ‘He picked the team,’ smiled Bruce. ‘It’s great the future king is an aston Villa fan. To be fair, he knows his stuff. We’ll give him a ticket next week, that’s for sure!’