Goals from John McGinn, Tammy Abraham and Conor Hourihane seal victory for Aston Villa.
Saturday 10 November 2018 18:42, UK
Aston Villa produced a superb second-half performance to blow away Derby 3-0 at Pride Park as John Terry put one over on his former Chelsea team-mate Frank Lampard.
Terry celebrated in the Villa dug-out as three goals in 11 minutes from John McGinn, Tammy Abraham and Conor Hourihane sent Derby crashing to a first home defeat since August 11.
Derby had brought Fikayo Tomori back into central defence but Villa looked dangerous from the start with Albert Adomah whipping in a cross which Jonathan Kodjia headed over from six yards.
Kodjia should have done better when some casual defending at the other end allowed Tom Lawrence to fire just over from the edge of the box before Abraham volleyed wide after some clever link-up play.
Tomori rescued Derby in the 23rd minute when Abraham spun away from him near the byline but the defender recovered to make a crucial tackle on his Chelsea team-mate as he was poised to pick out a claret shirt in the six-yard box.
Harry Wilson tested Orjan Nyland with a swerving shot from 25 yards before Adomah was tripped on the edge of the area but Villa could not make the free kick count.
Villa should have scored in the 33rd minute when Adomah crossed from the left and Abraham had a free header from eight yards which he put too close to Scott Carson, who pushed the ball behind.
Nyland saved Villa six minutes later when he first denied Jack Marriott and after James Chester blocked Wilson's follow-up, the keeper tipped over the Wales forward's drive.
The first half ended with chances missed at both ends as Kodjia bundled an Adomah cross wide before Lawrence lobbed over when clear from Carson's long kick.
Villa had the ball in the net in the 53rd minute when Abraham volleyed past Carson after McGinn's shot was blocked but it was ruled out for offside and the striker headed over from eight yards six minutes later.
The visitors wasted another chance on the hour when Kodjia's low cross was met by McGinn but he touched the ball wide of the far post and Kodjia then fired wastefully over from Jack Grealish's pass.
Villa's second-half dominance finally paid off in the 74th minute when Yannick Bolasie got behind Derby on the left and crossed for McGinn to head in from six yards.
Derby were caught again four minutes later when McGinn played the ball in from the left and this time Abraham made no mistake from close range.
The game was over in the 84th minute when McGinn was fouled just outside the area and Hourihane curled the free-kick past Carson to put the seal on an impressive Villa display.
Frank Lampard: "The first half was close and in the second half they were the better team, clearly, and created enough chances to win it probably by more. If we're not at it as we weren't in the second half against a team with the quality of Aston Villa that's what you get.
"They were better than us, with and without the ball. There can be a multitude of reasons, and I'm quite reflective already. We've had a great month and a game like this is actually a wake-up call and a reminder to all of us that this league is tough and if you underperform you'll get beaten and we need to make sure those games are rare."
Dean Smith: "Today I thought we set some very good traps to win the ball back and created some really good chances and I certainly felt the scoreline was deserved. I think there's still a lot more to come from this squad, I said to them yesterday and today that there was an opportunity to draw a line in the sand about where we're at.
"There's quality in the squad, we've got 12 players going off on international duty and other players who possibly should be on international duty so it shows the quality we have and when they perform as a team we can get performances and results like we got today."
