ON THE SLIDE
Villa’s play-off hopes take a hit as Moore’s men cruise
Aston Villa 0 West Brom Robson-Kanu 41, Rodriguez 45 2
AS WEST BROM coped serenely with the loss of suspended striker Dwight Gayle, a sour mood is engulfing Villa Park.
Home midfielder Conor Hourihane bore the brunt when his number came up after an hour. His substitution was greeted with ironic cheers from his own supporters and an impatient gesture by manager Dean Smith to get off the pitch quicker.
It was that sort of west Midlands derby. Feisty and competitive in the early stages, Albion moved through the gears to score twice in quick succession before half- t i me through Hal Robson- Kanu and Jay Rodriguez and it was game, set and match.
They stay fourth with Gayle, starting a twomatch ban for diving, not missed. Villa on the other hand are struggling in mid-table.
The o nl y team t hey’ ve beaten since Boxing Day are bottom-of-the-table Ipswich Town.
‘There was nothing in the game until the first goal. The lad gets a header that nobody is going to save,’ said Smith (above).
‘We didn’t react as we should and made a mistake for their second goal. They let us have the ball in the second half, defended with 11 men on the edge of the box and we huffed and puffed. Not enough quality.’ For Albion boss Darren Moore, it was a further sign that his squad are strong enough to stay the Championship course. ‘Dwight is an important player but we didn’t cry over spilt milk and we have won games without him,’ said Moore. ‘You have seen me chop and change the team this season. Jay Rodriguez gave us a platform, Hal Robson did well and Sam Field finished the job off. We’ve also got Matty Phillips, Jefferson Montero and others.’ Villa’s brightest moment came early when Tammy Abraham went one-on-one with Albion goalkeeper Sam Johnstone. But he failed to score and, from that moment, Villa were doomed. After 41 minutes, Everton loanee Mason Holgate – who’d previously caught Andre Green with a high boot — curled in a cross for RobsonKanu to glance in at the near post over Villa’s 6ft 7ins goalkeeper Lovre Kalinic.
Before Villa could regroup, Hourihane was brushed aside by Rodriguez in midfield and the Baggies top scorer broke forward to drill a shot past Kalinic via a deflection off Tommy Elphick. It was his 17th goal of the season.
It proved Kalinic’s last action of the game as he was replaced by Jed Steer during the interval with Smith explaining: ‘He got a knock on the head.
‘He comes from a league where keepers are more protected. He felt dizzy in the dressing-room.’
Robson-Kanu, who was back from a thigh injury, didn’t reappear for the second half either but that didn’t upset Albion with Field doing well as a replacement.
Villa rarely looked like fighting back and maybe Smith was making a point by sending on 17-year-old Jacob Ramsey for his debut. On the Villa website, Ramsey’s profile is still listed in the Academy section but needs must when Jack Grealish, Axle Tuanzebe, Henri Lansbury and James Chester are among t he injured and unavailable.
The home side did perk up slightly towards the end but only because Albion weren’t interested in doing anything more than seeing out the game.
Johnstone produced a save from Johh McGinn’s shot and Abraham headed wide.
There was a nice touch when 37year-old Gareth Barry, who started his career with Villa, was applauded by all sides of the ground when he was substituted late on.
There were five bookings in the first half – and none in the second. It showed that both sides accepted the outcome l ong before t he final whistle.
It’s remarkable that England’s second city doesn’t have a Premier League team in it. On this evidence, West Brom are far more likely to change that than Villa.
‘We are a very resilient squad,’ said Moore. His side have now kept four clean sheets in a row away from The Hawthorns.
As for Villa, Grealish may be back on the bench for the trip to Stoke next weekend. They’ll need him as McGinn’s yellow card means he is suspended.