Aston Villa have doubled their lead against Newcastle United thanks to a brilliant finish from Bertrand Traore.
The home side took the lead after 12 minutes, when Ollie Watkins found the back of the net. The striker had the ball in the net for a second time in the first-half, but his goal was ruled out for offside mid knee slide.
Thankfully for Dean Smith, it didn’t take long for his side to add that important second goal, and it was Bertrand Traore who provided it with a fine finish after a superb combination with captain Jack Grealish.
What a finish! ?
Traore doubles #AVFC‘s lead just before half-time!
Watch live on Sky Sports PL ?
Follow #AVLNEW online here ? https://t.co/Lp6ZsKLaOP pic.twitter.com/DoS5uK3fda— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 23, 2021
If you’d told Traore this at the start of the season, he wouldn’t have believed you, but Villa can actually go above Chelsea, his former employers, with a victory tonight, despite the Blues having played half of their 38 games.
Villa will still have two games in hand over Frank Lampard’s men, too, having had games postponed as a result of a coronavirus outbreak in the camp, one of which is the fixture that they are playing tonight against Newcastle.
While Chelsea have plenty of options out wide, none of them have been performing at the level Traore has of late, and with his goal, Villa’s second tonight, they look almost certain to go ahead of the side that sold him to Lyon in 2017!