JACK GREALISH once again proved to be the ace in the pack as he teed up Conor Hourihane for the only goal in Aston Villa’s win over Norwich.
With both the newly-promoted sides in the drop zone leading into the Boxing Day meeting, the losers would be left ruing a big missed opportunity.
Hourihane fired through the crowd to secure the pointsCredit: Reuters
The matchwinner made sure to thank Grealish for his excellent assistCredit: Reuters
And Norwich will wonder how they missed two key chances before Hourihane’s winner at Villa Park.
The Canaries traded up a lifeless first-half for a dominating start to the second period, first inducing a stunning goalline block from Douglas Luiz from Alex Tettey’s 50th minute piledriver.
Full-back Sam Byram then found himself the wrong man in the right place from a wonderful Max Aarons cross – arriving perfectly at the far-post to head wide.
Aston Villa made the visitors pay with yet another moment of quality from Grealish.
The winger faked to shoot on the edge of the area before drawing a number of markers and laying on Hourihane by the penalty spot.
Only on the pitch for a few minutes, substitute Hourihane lashed his seventh goal of the season into the top corner.
For the remainder of the game, Norwich continued to look dangerous and still lack the finishing touch to make their hard work pay.
Now stuck at the foot of the table and seven points from safety, Daniel Farke’s side simply must starting making their chances count soon – or they will run out for good.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
