Aston Villa vs Derby County Ratings: Aston Villa Player Ratings + Reaction
Dean Smith’s Aston Villa side were able to just squeeze past the challenge posed by Derby County as they sealed their return to the Premier League with a tight 2-1 victory over the Rams. Despite a fairly spirited effort by Frank Lampard’s side, the Villans were just too good for the Derby side who struggled to defend all the attacking creativity that Villa offer.
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Anwar El Ghazi scored the opener for the Villans a few minutes before the half-time whistle and from a Derby perspective, it couldn’t have come at a worse time. They further increased their advantage in the 59th minute when John McGinn’s challenge of Kelle Roos ended up with the ball bouncing into the back of the Derby net. Despite a late goal through Jack Marriott, Derby fell just short on the night.
Here are the Aston Villa Player Ratings:
Jed Steer 7
Made a couple of crucial saves along the way but didn’t look overly confident on the ball at times over the course of the tie.
Ahmed Elmohamady 7
Did an excellent job with his bombarding runs down the flank and played a perfect ball to provide El Ghazi for Villa’s opener.
Axel Tuanzebe 6
Didn’t have the most promising starts to the game as he did look reluctant to get on the ball but did well in the 2nd half.
Tyrone Mings 7
Another game, another absolutely mammoth display by the Bournemouth loanee who has effectively come in and saved Villa.
Neil Taylor 6
Was more than assured with the ball at his feet or in defence and kept things simple by feeding it to El Ghazi whenever possible.
Conor Hourihane 7
Did well in the middle of the park as he put in a lot of effort right from the off and worked hard to keep Harry Wilson at bay.
John McGinn 9
The man who made the whole thing possible – McGinn was at the heart of everything positive that Villa did on the night.
Jack Grealish 7
The youngster has proven again that he is Premier League quality with a sparkling yet rugged display in the middle of the park.
Albert Adomah 5
Certainly wasn’t an assured inclusion but was utilised from the start. Struggled to get forward and didn’t even trouble Ashley Cole.
Anwar El Ghazi 8
He showed excellent intent with his movement and displayed a positive attitude right till the moment he scored the opener.
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Tammy Abraham 7
Didn’t have too much of an impact in the opening knockings but did come into the fixture over the last hour of the tie.
Here’s how some Villa fans reacted to this crucial victory:
