Smith gets off to flier as Villa ride their luck

An afternoon that began with a tribute to the man who turned Aston Villa into one of England’s foremost clubs in the final quarter of the last century ended with a debut win for the latest manager tasked with restoring his faded legacy.

The late Sir Doug Ellis, in whose memory a guest list of Villa greats and Ellis family members gathered on the touchline to lead a minute’s applause, was in his second stint as chairman when Villa won their last major trophy in 1996, with Brian Little as manager.

Dean Smith, a former Holte Ender who took his place in the dugout after acknowledging an enthusiastic welcome, is the 12th permanent appointment as head of Villa’s coaching staff since Little. The former Brentford manager replaced Steve Bruce, who was fired after a Championship run of one win in nine.

Smith is the first of that dozen to win his debut match in charge since Gerard Houllier in 2010, thanks to Tammy Abraham’s eighth-minute header, but in truth the new man simply enjoyed the kind of luck that deserted Bruce towards the end of his tenure.

Villa’s failure to take any of a string of chances to add to Abraham’s fourth goal in their colours reflected a shortcoming with which Bruce was only too familiar, as would have been the number of opportunities they subsequently offered their opponents.

Abraham should have scored a hattrick, yet by the end it felt like Orjan Nyland, the Norwegian goalkeeper, had been Villa’s man of the match. Having kept out Swansea’s only noteworthy effort in the opening half, Nyland made four more saves in a frantic final third of the match.

“I thought in the first half we were very good and Tammy knows he should be going away with the match ball,” said Smith, who had John Terry as assistant coach next to him on his return to the club after spending last season as a Villa player.

“In the second half our energy levels dipped, but I was pleased with their desire to keep the ball out of the net and it’s great to start with a win.”

Graham Potter, the Swansea manager, might have bemoaned his luck, but in his pragmatic way he declined the opportunity. “In an atmosphere like today’s it was difficult after going a goal down early, and I can’t say we deserved to win,” he said.