It was a good night for Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, as they beat Brighton & Hove Albion to progress to the round of 16.
The Villans secured an impressive 3-1 at the AMEX, with goals from Jota, Conor Hourihane and Jack Grealish setting up a tie against West Midlands rivals, Wolves.
Both teams made changes from their regular Premier League line-ups for the fixture. Dean Smith opted to make nine alterations with only John McGinn and Trezeguet keeping their place, whilst Graham Potter made 11 changes and handed debuts to seven academy players.
It would be fair to say that Villa’s more experienced team was dominant throughout as they enjoyed 70% of possession and 28 shots on goal en-route to victory (via WhoScored).
Several players caught the eye for Smith’s side, but it was perhaps Hourihane who was the most impressive on the night. As well as scoring, the former Plymouth Argyle and Barnsley man created five chances and had an 87% passing accuracy.
Despite starting their first league match against Tottenham, the Irishman has been forced to make do with a place on the bench for the rest of their top-flight outings. However, his display against Brighton could give his manager a selection headache ahead of their next match.
His display did not go unnoticed by the Aston Villa fans either, who have been offering him plenty of praise on social media following the full-time whistle. Many of them would now like to see Smith include him in their next Premier League starting 11 against Burnley at the weekend.
Here is what some of them have been saying…
Come on Deano do the right thing and start him Saturday!!!!!!!
— chris hodge (@KeeperHodge) September 25, 2019
Mr underrated should he starting in the league
— ͏davozs (@mahomezs) September 25, 2019
He should be starting league games!!!
— Villanshub (@villanshub) September 26, 2019
People forget he started against spurs and we were winning 1-0 for most of the game
— alexi kosteriadis (@AKosteriadis) September 25, 2019
No surprise, chances created is astounding. Just has that knack, need him in the team ASAP
— Gary Reynolds (@Gazpat87) September 25, 2019
Earnt his prem start then!
— Jonathan Fair (@JonathanFair) September 25, 2019
Play a diamond and get him in the starting 11.
— bäckröw83 (@backrow83) September 25, 2019
