Colchester United vs Aston Villa. Carabao Cup First Round.
Weston Homes Community StadiumAttendance6,603.
Thursday 10 August 2017 07:09, UK
Aston Villa squeezed into the second round of the Carabao Cup after a 2-1 win over Colchester on Wednesday evening.
Villa took the lead through Scott Hogan (7), who capitalised on Sam Walker's spill, before Jed Steer saved Mikael Mandron's penalty two minutes later.
Villa went 2-0 up through Frankie Kent's unfortunate own goal (19), but Colchester halved the deficit through Kent's poked effort at the other end (39).
That's how it stayed as Villa held on, and the second-round draw will take place on Thursday evening at around 10pm, live on Sky Sports News.
Villa took a seventh-minute lead when Scott Hogan slotted into an empty net, after Colchester keeper Sam Walker had challenged Andre Green in the area and the ball had run loose.
But less than a minute later the hosts won a penalty when Sammie Szmodics was brought down by Chris Samba in the area, only for Villa keeper Jed Steer to deny Mikael Mandron from the spot.
Colchester skipper Tom Lapslie went close with a fierce effort before Villa doubled their lead in the 19th minute after U's defender Frankie Kent diverted Albert Adomah's cross into his own net, amid appeals for offside.
James Chester denied Colchester's Szmodics on the goal-line and Szmodics was then left frustrated by Steer's stop at his far post after Drey Wright had set his team-mate up.
But Colchester pulled a goal back six minutes before the break through Kent, who guided Kyel Reid's speculative long-range effort past Steer and in for his first professional goal.
The U's came close to equalising in first-half added time when Steer tipped Sean Murray's header over for a corner.
Walker denied both Hogan and Conor Hourihane and Adomah's effort was cleared off the line by Cameron James, as Villa pressed after the break.
Steer made a magnificent save to deny Szmodics' strike from the edge of the area late on, as Villa progressed.
