The Villa Match Zone

U23s – Blackburn 0 Aston Villa 1

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Kevin MacDonald’s Under 23 side made the trip up to Ewood Park last night to face Premier League 2 Division 2 leaders Blackburn Rovers.

Aston Villa went into the game looking to close a seven-point gap to the table toppers with us sitting in second place and we only went and did it!

Jordan Lyden continued his return from injury and made the difference on the day as he scored the winning goal. No doubt more special for him as he was wearing the captain’s armband.

The gap to the title now stands at just four points.

Credit to Blackburn, they had a host of chances and it was a rearguard action from us, however the margin could’ve been greater as Keinan Davis saw an effort come back off the woodwork in the second period and we had other opportunities.

The key thing here is we have a game in hand on Blackburn, so although they only needed a point last night to tie up automatic promotion into Division 1, they now have to win their remaining game or hope we slip up in our remaining two.

The advantage is still their’s but all we could do was put the pressure on and take it to another fixture and we did that admirably.

The match also saw the Under 23s extend their winning streak to eight matches and we also have a Premier League Cup semi-final to look forward to against Leicester City before the end of the season.

Lyden’s effort came on the stroke of half-time as he volleyed home from the back post.

Blackburn:

Fisher, Buckley, Platt, Magloire (Mansell 81), Grayson, Evans, Hardcastle (Simmonds 69), Tomlinson, Travis, Mols, Nuttall.

Subs not used:

Byrne, Wilson, Barnes.

Yellows: Hardcastle.

Aston Villa:

Sarkic, Clark, Borg, Suliman, Bedeau, Clarke (Prosser 85), Hepburn-Murphy (Mooney 82), Doyle-Hayes, Davis (Abdo 57), Lyden, O’Hare.

Subs not used:

Watkins, Blackett-Taylor.

Goal: Lyden (45+1)
Yellows: Doyle-Hayes, Lyden, Borg, Clarke, Hepburn-Murphy.

Attendance: 1,093.

If the title bid and automatic promotion fails, we have secured our Play-Off spot for the year though, so it’s still all to play for.

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