Aston Villa beat West Bromwich Albion in the first leg of the semifinals of the play offs for promotion to the Premier League. Villa dominated West Brom but had to come back from Dwight Gayle's early goal.
Dwight Gayle scored for West Bromwich Albion to take the lead against Aston Villa after just 16 minutes. But there was a place in the Premier League at stake, and Villa weren't going to give up that easily.
West Brom maintained their advantage for much of the match, despite Aston Villa dominating. Shots flew over Johnstone's goal, but today seemed to be one of those games in which the ball just didn't want to cross the line.
Until it did. Hourihane, with a superb goal to pass Grealish, made the equal in the 75th minute. Four minutes later, penalty. Tammy Abraham gave Aston Villa the advantage.
West Brom could not respond, and their afternoon was summed up when Dwight Gayle, who scored the opener for them, was handed a second yellow card. He was, of course, subsequently sent off and will miss the return leg.
Aston Villa will visit The Hawthorns on 14th May with a slight advantage, but with the advantage of scoring at home. Scoring at West Bromwich Albion's stadium will be more vital than ever to reach promotion to the Premier League next season.