At The Halfway Stage Villa Leave West Brom Crying – Match Stats

Earlier this afternoon Aston Villa welcomed local rivals West Bromwich Albion to the Villa Park pitch for Saturday’s Play-Off Semi-Final first leg affair.

Hopes and optimism were high ahead of the game given the spectacular run of form we’ve been on in the second half of the 2018/19 campaign, and given a shot at promotion looked to be a stretch after our summer and first half to the year, the opportunity was ours to take.

Villa better dominated the tie in terms of possession and chances overall but Dwight Gayle made his chance in the 16th minute count to give them the 1-0 advantage. Second half substitute Conor Hourihane tied things up with 15 minutes remaining in the game with an absolute rifle of an effort and a quick penalty award for a foul on Jack Grealish saw Tammy Abraham step up to make it 2-1 four minutes later.

Things got better for Villa, although goalkeeper Jed Steer may disagree, as Dwight Gayle saw two yellows as he slid in and collided with our stopper and he now misses the second leg.

All eyes to Tuesday to complete the job.