ONLY that maddest of mad Hatters would have given Luton any hope of ending Villa’s winning streak at Villa Park.
And so it proved as Unai Emery‘s in-form Villa effortlessly swatted Rob Edwards’ team aside to clock up their 12th home win on the spin.
Aston Villa earned their 12th home win in a row
Unai Emery’s side have now scored 20 goals in their five home games this season
Rob Edwards Luton failed to get have any shots in the first half
Leading at half-time through a John McGinn goal, Villa added a further two after the break through Moussa Diaby and unfortunate Luton skipper Tom Lockyer, who helped another Diaby effort into his own net.
And though Luton enjoyed some late pressure – and were rewarded with a bizarre late own goal from Emi Martinez – the gulf in class was vast.
Let’s be honest, no-one needed the help of the Hubble Space Telescope to see this home banker coming.
Bournemouth’s win against Burnley 24 hours earlier had left Luton in the drop zone.
And virtually from kick-off you knew this wasn’t going to be the day they would clamber out at arguably the toughest away venue in the Premier League.
Villa went into this game brimming with confidence – 10 points better off than at this stage last season, having scored 16 more goals.
By full-time they had now scored an astonishing 20 goals in their five Premier home games this season – a figure only bettered by Manchester City in Premier League history.
It was one-way traffic from the start as Villa enjoyed 77% of possession in a one-sided first half.
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The only surprise was that having clocked up 13 shots to Luton’s NONE, Villa went in at half-time with only a slender one-goal lead to show for their domination.
Luton survived an early double scare as Nicolo Zaniolo’s shot was desperately blocked before McGinn fired over.
Then Ollie Watkins nonchalantly flipped a Diaby pass up and into the air to tee up Zaniolo, who side-footed his volley just wide.
It was exhibition stuff at times as Luton wobbled and Thomas Kaminski did brilliantly to defy Watkins his seventh goal in six games.
Matty Cash picked Watkins out at the back post but the Belgian keeper hurled himself across his goal to defy the England striker with a point-blank save, then kept out his rebound with his foot.
However it was merely delaying the inevitable and Villa finally made their expected breakthrough after 17 minutes with a well-worked set-piece.
Douglas Luiz shaped up to cross from the left but instead drilled the ball low in front of Luton’s backline.
Diaby allowed the ball to run on to McGinn who had time to take a touch before drilling a low right foot shot into the far corner.
John McGinn opened the scoring after 17 minutes
It was the Scot’s second goal in three days but it didn’t set up the expected goal stampede.
Whether they were conserving energy, or had just got a bit complacent, Villa started to freewheel.
The way Emery strode purposefully down the tunnel at half-time suggested he was not entirely happy with the way the afternoon was shaping up and he replaced Zaniolo with Leon Bailey at the break.
Like most things Emery does, it had an instant pay-off as Bailey played his part in Villa doubling their lead within four minutes of the restart.
McGinn set Digne free and from the Frenchman’s deep cross Bailey nodded the ball into the path of Diaby who lashed the ball beyond Kaminski.
Rob Edwards had seen enough and made a double substitution, sending on Andros Townsend for Jacob Brown.
The arrival of former Birmingham City midfielder Tahith Chong for Gabriel Oshowas met by howls of derision from the home support and ironic chants of “One Wayne Rooney, there’s only one Wayne Rooney.”
And there was more to smile about just beyond the hour as Villa made it 3-0.
Kamara lofted the ball over the Hatters defence and Diaby knocked it beyond Kaminski.
Poor Tom Lockyer could only help the ball into his own net as he attempted to clear.
As Luton enjoyed some late possession deep in their own half, the Holte End summed the day up by chantuing: “We want our ball back, we want our ball back.”
But the Hatters were to have the final word with a bizarre consolation goal.
Andros Townsend’s cross was headed into the air by Elijah Adebayo and Konsa sent a looping header over Martinez.
To the keeper’s disgust the ball bounced off his own crossbar and hit the Argentine on the back before crossing the line for a freak own goal.
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By: Graeme Bryce
Title: Aston Villa 3 Luton 1: Unai Emery’s side make it 12 home Premier League wins in a row with easy victory over Hatters
Sourced From: www.thesun.co.uk/sport/24523893/aston-vs-villa-luton-live-score-result-premier-league/
Published Date: Sun, 29 Oct 2023 13:56:00 +0000
