Aston Villa 2-0 Bolton: Five things learned as target man Tammy shines

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Aston Villa got their second win under new manager Dean Smith on Friday evening as they beat Bolton Wanderers 2-0.

Villa opened the scoring after just four minutes when Jack Grealish was put through on goal by Tammy Abraham before James Chester doubled the lead 10 minutes after half-time.

And the Villans would hold on, in what was once a Premier League fixture, to move up to 13th in the Championship.

Here are five things we learned.

1. Jack Grealish has his role

Despite being by far the best player in Aston Villa’s squad, Jack Grealish has been somewhat subdued this season, not being involved in a goal since the opening game of the Championship.

But against Bolton on Friday night the Englishman looked to be tested in a new position under Dean Smith, playing more as a second striker than attacking midfielder. And it took only four minutes for it to pay off.

With Tammy Abraham dropping slightly deeper to pick up the ball, Grealish found space between the Bolton centre-backs which he moved into with a brilliantly timed run to put Villa 1-0 up and score his first goal since April.

Grealish’s advanced positioning also allowed him to have more control of the match, having the most touches in the first half of any player on the pitch, making 28 passes and creating one chance.

And in the second half he showed the other side of his game, preserving his energy as Dean Smith has asked, having fewer touches but still providing the vital ball, including his cross into the box from a set-piece which Chester met to put Villa in control of the match.

It looks like Grealish has finally found the role to make the most of his abilities.

2. Tammy Abraham puts Chelsea on watch

Tammy Abraham may not have scored for Villa against Bolton but the forward definitely gave those watching him from his parent club Chelsea something to think about.

Playing alongside Grealish, Abraham allowed his partner to take a lot of the goalscoring abilities, dropping deeper to ask as the target man and provide a threat from a wider position as he had at times in the Chelsea youth team. This paid off after just minutes as he picked up the ball on the edge of the Bolton area and neatly played through Grealish for the opening goal.

It is this kind of striker Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri seems to desire at the Premier League club, preferring to start Olivier Giroud over Alvaro Morata when both are fully fit. Morata may have scored three goals in the league, but Giroud has recorded more assists than any other player in the Blues squad with four.

Chelsea may not play in the same formation as Villa do but a lot of the attack for Sarri’s side comes down the left in the form of the Premier League’s top scorer Eden Hazard, whose understanding with Giroud has been trouble for opposition defences.

Of course, Abraham is still some way off reach the levels where he could start for Chelsea, especially given the money the club spent on Morata, but the Englishman is on the right path.

3. Bolton need luck to end goal woes

Sometimes a poor goalscoring run is down to more than just ability, or a lack of. Going into Friday’s match against Villa, Bolton had scored in just two of their past eight games in the Championship and failed to score in the past two.

But they should have ended this run in the first half but for things just not going their way. Clayton Donaldson worked hard to put pressure on the Villa centre-backs and should have seen his efforts pay off when a challenge in the air saw the ball drop to the feet of Erhun Oztumer but the Turkish midfielder’s shot bobbled into the hands of Orjan Nyland.

Then there was Bolton’s best chance of the first half as Jack Hobbs’ moved to the past post well to fashion a chance with a header across goal which looked almost certain to be the equaliser. But James Chester, who hasn’t had the best of seasons so far, had his moment to remember hooking the ball out for a corner with a brilliant goal-line clearance. And even from the resulting corner, Nyland fumble didn’t fall to a Bolton player, rather back into his own hands.

Even the deflections weren’t going Bolton’s way as the ball always rebounded off Villa players past the far post when so often fans are used to seeing it end up in the back of the net in similar situations.

But, for all their pressure, Bolton were the ones to concede next again through a bit of bad luck for themselves as Chester appeared to be marginally offside.

And it would end in woe once more as Bolton failed to score again, extending their run without a goal in the Championship to 276 minutes.

4. James Chester makes amends

By his own admission, James Chester has not had the best season after forming a good partnership alongside John Terry last term which almost saw Aston Villa return to the Premier League.

“I’ve played a lot of games for this club since I’ve been here and there has to be a bit of realism in that you know you are going to go through a sticky patch now and again,” he said before the game. “I know I’ve not quite been at the level I’d want this season.”

But the Welsh international had a game to remember at Villa Park, helping his side win their second game under new manager Dean Smith. In the first half Chester was the defensive rock keeping Bolton at bay as the pressure rose with a brilliant goal-line clearance the picture of the half.

And if that wasn’t enough for him, Chester doubled Villa’s lead shortly after half-time with a neat header beating his man at the far post.

It was, overall, a faultless night for he former Hull City defender as he won more aerial battles than any other player on the pitch (10) with a success rate of 71% and also made the most clearances (eight) and interceptions (four).

5. Dean Smith has Villa moving in the right direction

Prior to the game at Villa Park on Friday night, Aston Villa had given up 15 points from winning positions the season – the most in the Championship. Three of those points had come under Smith last weekend but it appears Villa’s new manager has finally shown the club a way to hold onto a lead.

Granted they did look weaker after scoring, sitting back despite only taking the lead in the fourth minute and rode their luck at times in the first half with Chester bailing them out.

But after half-time the Villans looked a completely different beast, looking to defend their lead by attacking Bolton and ensuring the pressure was on their opponents rather than their own back line.

And this worked perfectly as Chester doubled Villa’s lead, just the fourth time the club have taken a two-goal advantage over an opponent. On three of those occasions, Villa have ended up winning the match with a 3-3 draw against Preston North End the anomaly.

The post Aston Villa 2-0 Bolton: Five things learned as target man Tammy shines appeared first on Squawka News.



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