JACK MAGIC But Grealish show only eases Villa injury pain
JACK GREALISH’S inspiring performance earned Aston Villa a rare away win.
But boss Dean Smith was still left counting the cost and, for once, VAR was not to blame.
Struggling Villa had what looked a perfectly good opener from Grealish ruled out before going on to notch just their second away win in 29 attempts in the Premier League.
However, it was the sight of first goal scorer Wesley and keeper Tom Heaton both being carried off, as Villa weathered the Clarets’ second-half fightback, that ruined a great start to the new year for the Villa boss.
Smith said: “Totally, those injuries take the gloss off it. They are two big players for the club.
“It has taken the gloss off what was a tremendous performance from the boys. They both felt their knees but we are not sure what the prognosis is yet.”
Wesley started Villa on the road to a win that lifted them out of the bottom three in the 27th minute and exorcised the memory of last weekend’s bad loss to Watford.
He exchanged passes a couple of times to get around a static Burnley defence before lashing a powerful shot past Nick Pope.
It was the Brazilian’s first league goal in 13 games and a sign that the £22m signing from Bruges could help the Villans survive. Grealish doubled the lead four minutes before the break after a flowing attack on the right wing featured Trezeguet, Wesley and Douglas Luiz before the Villa star unleashed an unstoppable shot from 15 yards.
The two-goal blitz was no more than Villa deserved after Wesley’s heel was judged offside in the build-up to a stooping Grealish header that looked to have brought them a 12th-minute opener.
Smith said: “It was a hell of a response to the last game and a hell of a response to the VAR. I’ve seen still pictures of it and it still baffles me a bit.”
Burnley boss Sean Dyche made a double half-time substitution with both Jay Rodriguez and Johann Berg Gudmundsson improving them considerably. And Chris Wood rushed a couple of half-chances wide before rising to head in a far-post Ashley Westwood cross 10 minutes from time.
Heaton, who was a Burnley favourite before joining Villa, injured his knee as he attempted to keep Wood’s header out of his net.
And he joined Wesley in the treatment room after the striker was injured in a challenge with Ben Mee in the 70th minute.
But led by a superb defensive showing from fit-again England defender Tyrone Mings, Villa held on for their first win at Turf Moor in 61 years.
Dyche saw his team booed off at half-time and admitted they are sleepwalking through the early stages of games.
He said: “It was a big reaction at halftime, obviously, but you can’t wait in the Premier League. We’ve got an experienced group here and they know it doesn’t work like that.”