Aston Villa 2-1 Derby County
by Simon Williams
at Wembley Stadium

ASTON VILLA made a return to the Premier League following a two-year absence after they beat Derby County 2-1 in the Championship play-off final at Wembley.

Anwar El Ghazi and John McGinn were on target for the Villa before Jack Marriott netted for Derby late in the game to make it a nervous end for the travelling Villa fans.

The Villans were the more dominant of the two sides in the opening exchanges and had chances to take an early lead through Axel Tuanzebe and Jack Grealish.

But the Rams responded well and, but for some miscommunication between Jayden Bogle and Mason Bennett in the final third, could have taken the lead themselves.

Villa continued to turn the screw and created another chance that saw McGinn attempt an audacious chip from inside the penalty area that only narrowly missed the top corner of Kelle Roos’s goal.

Tammy Abraham blazed inches wide midway through the half before El Ghazi was stopped in his tracks by Richard Keogh as he was just about to pull the trigger following a mesmerising run that tied the Derby defence in knots.

But the game had to wait until the 37th minute for the first effort on target from either side — a 25-yard effort by Derby’s Mason Mount that was easily held by Jed Steer.

The only other shot on target in the first half came a minute before the break when Ahmed Elmohamady’s cross was diverted past Roos off the back of El Ghazi to give Villa a deserved lead.

After a raft of bookings early in the second half the game did finally settle down as Villa continued where they had left off from the first-half and forced Roos to hurriedly clear his lines.

Derby keeper Roos looked nervous after being put under pressure and was forced into a number of early mistakes. 

Sensing blood, the Lions went after the Dutchman and were rewarded when a deflected El Ghazi effort spun into the air. 

It should have been a routine save but Roos misjudged the flight of the ball and dropped it onto the head of McGinn to double Villa’s lead.

Substitute Marriott gave the Derby county fans hope with a little under 10 minutes to play but it wasn’t enough as Villa take their seat at English football’s top table next season.