It’s advantage Aston Villa heading into this Championship play-off semi-final at The Hawthorns against West Brom as Tuesday night’s visitors grabbed what could turn out to be a vital 2-1 win at Villa Park in Saturday’s 1st leg.
West Bromwich actually drew first blood in Saturday’s opening leg through a strike from forward Dwight Gayle, but this was as a result of a calamitous error from Aston Villa’s defensive midfielder, Glenn Whelan, who failed to control a pass back from Jack Grealish.
West Brom created a few chances in the first half, most notably from forward Rodriguez who forced a great save from Villa keeper, Jed Steer, but the highlight was West Brom’s solid organisation and shape in midfield and defence which limited Aston Villa’s chances in the opening 45 minutes.
As the match wore on though, West Brom’s limited capacity to create further clear-cut opportunities allowed Villa to get back into the tie and this has been The Baggies’ problem in recent weeks.
Having lost 5 of their last 7 matches away from home, West Brom will no doubt be glad to return to The Hawthorns on Tuesday night but find themselves chasing a one-goal deficit. The hosts will be confident they can still turn this 2nd leg tie around after winning their last five at home on the trot having recorded wins against Swansea City, Birmingham City, Preston North End, Hull City and Rotherham United.
As mentioned earlier, Aston Villa returned to winning ways after a 1-1 draw with Leeds United and a 2-1 loss to Norwich City, but the 1st leg win over West Brom will give Tuesday night’s visitors a timely boost as they look to finish the job at The Hawthorns in this 2nd leg.
Unlike their west midlands counterparts West Brom though, Aston Villa have produced consistent and solid displays away from home in recent weeks as they’ve lost just once out of their last nine matches on their travels (1-0 at Brentford), and this impressive sequence includes five wins on the trot with victories chalked up at Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham United and Bolton Wanderers.
Dean Smith’s side certainly looked the business in Saturday’s second half, and with the likes of midfielders Adomah, Hourihane, Grealish and McGinn, Villa ended up dominating the middle of the park against The Baggies.
Striker Abraham (26 goals) notched again, but he has the likes of El Ghazi and Kodjia in support too who are provided the ammunition from McGinn and Grealish.
Player for player, Aston Villa just about edge West Brom in terms of quality and depth in squad, and this should be on display again on Tuesday night as Aston Villa come out on top again with the visitors progressing to the play-off final.