Aston Villa Under-21s beat Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League Cup at Bodymoor Heath on Friday night. Two goals in the opening eight minutes put Ińigo Idiakez on hold as Ben Broggio slotted in ahead of Kobei Moore in the opener.
Chances continued for the hosts and they extended their lead when Rico Richards scored a third just before half time.
Number four arrived in the 56th minute when Tommi O’Reilly won the ball high up the pitch and scored a set goal. Villa completely dominated the contest but ended the game with ten men when Josh Feeney received a second yellow card late on.
The win keeps the Young Lions top of Group A with ten points from four games ahead of a trip to Hull City in January.
Villa came into the match in a strong position in Group A, leading with seven points from the opening three games. And the Young Lions took the lead after four minutes.
Triston Rowe cut in from the right to play O’Reilly through and when Tommy Reid saved the midfielder’s low drive, Broggio was on hand to tap home. Broggio turned creator when his side doubled their lead in the eighth minute, turning away from the man and laying the ball to Moore for a simple finish.
Villa’s relentless pressing combined with Brighton’s determination from the back led to further chances for Moore and Todd Alcock, denied by smart saves from Reid. At the other end, Sam Proctor looked confident and sure of the home side’s goal.
He made two good saves in the first half to maintain a two-goal lead. And a minute before half-time, a third goal came when Richard took advantage of loose handling by a sliding Reid and grabbed the ball “over the keeper and over the retreating defender”.
The visitors made three changes at half-time in an attempt to change their possession and began to dominate territory and possession in a way they had not done in the first 45 minutes.
But their weakness at the back continued and they were four down when O’Reilly robbed last man Ben Jackson of the ball and moved up before firing into the far corner.
Broggio had his effort narrowly wide before his strong individual performance ended when he was replaced by Jamaldeen Jimoh in the 20th minute.
Along with the rest of the defenders, Feeney barely lost a footing before an errant slide saw him pick up a second yellow card in the final minute of the game.