Aston Villa hold on to beat Derby and return to the Premier League

Villa seemed to be cruising towards a return to England's top flight thanks to goals from El Ghazi and McGinn, but a Martyn Waghorn goal set up a grandstand finish at Wembley in which Frank Lampard's side threw caution to the wind.

Monday's promotion rounds off a rollercoaster season for Aston Villa in the most spectacular fashion, and given the fact that they were languishing in 15th in the Championship table when lifelong Villa fan Dean Smith took over in October, their promotion is nothing short of a fairy-tale story.

With so much at stake (financial experts Deloitte estimated the game to be worth £170 million in the build-up), the first half was understandably a cagey and tight affair.

With no real chances of note, the first half seemed set to fizzle out with the deadlock unbroken. However, the impressive Anwar El Ghazi had other ideas, showing desire and bravery to swoop down and head home an Ahmed Elmohamady cross from the right as Derby's Jayden Bogle was caught napping.

This rare moment of first-half quality was enough to dramatically change the face of Dean Smith's half-time team talk, and after a scrappy and fiery start to the second half that saw three yellow cards in as many minutes, Villa started to look in control as Derby left spaces at the back.

And, sure enough, the Villains doubled their lead just before the hour mark. Standout performer Anwar El Ghazi cut in from the left and put in a deflected, looping cross that goalkeeper Kelle Roos misjudged horribly. The Derby goalkeeper let the ball slip through his hands, and John McGinn was on hand to beat him to it and head in Villa's second.

It seemed to take the second goal to spark Derby into life, and the Rams looked dangerous after making two attacking changes and bringing on Jack Marriott and Martyn Waghorn. The former, who was the hero as Derby beat Leeds in the semi-finals, looked particularly sharp and energetic, and gave his side a lifeline ten minutes from time when his effort from in front of the penalty spot took a small touch off Waghorn's foot to halve Villa's lead.

Derby continued to push until the end, but were unable to get past a resolute Villa defence for a second time and suffered another playoff final defeat. Lampard's side will now face a 12th consecutive season marooned in the Championship, whereas Villa will look forward to the opportunity to mix it with England's elite once again come August.

 

May 27, 2019