Aston Villa progressed into the EFL Cup’s round of 16 with a dominant display and 3-1 victory against Coventry City at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
In what was the first meeting of the two West Midlands sides since May 2001, Unai Emery’s side led early on through Tammy Abraham’s neat finish, before they were initially pegged back through Victor Torp’s stunning free-kick.
However, Villa’s quality eventually shone against Frank Lampard’s men, with Ross Barkley restoring their lead minutes before half-time, before Abraham rounded off the scoring, netting a brace with 31 minutes to go.
Coventry City 1-3 Aston Villa
The first clear-cut chance of the night yielded the opening goal for Villa after seven minutes. George Hemmings played Abraham through against Dan Bentley with an inch-perfect outside-of-the-foot ball, leaving the experienced striker to slot it into the bottom-right-hand corner.
Coventry’s first response saw Torp fire just wide after Lamare Bogarde couldn’t fully clear his lines after neat approach play from Stephan Mfuni, whilst Villa failed to capitalise on more below-par defensive work from the Sky Blues through John McGinn’s tame effort on 20 minutes.
However, Lampard’s side were level after 27 minutes as, after Barkley brought down Caleb Yirenkyi from 20 yards, Torp’s subsequent free-kick left Marco Bizot with no chance.
Emery’s men then rode their own luck on two occasions as the hosts grew in confidence. A lapse in concentration from Barkley and Tyrone Mings almost allowed Bobby Thomas to play Yirenkyi in for a second, whilst Gustavo Hamer came close to finding the top corner himself.
As Coventry’s pressure grew, Bizot was again tested by Yann Ghobo, eventually gathering the ball to safety, before Ibrahim Mbaye sent a reminder of Villa’s own attacking prowess with a low drive from 20 yards.
Another fizzing McGinn effort then paved the way for Villa’s second as Barkley atoned for his mishap by glancing Mbaye’s inswinger past Bentley five minutes before the break.
The final meaningful action of the first period came when Sidiki Cherif could only side-foot his effort into Bizot’s midriff after being sent clear down the right-hand channel by Tatsuhiro Sakamoto.
Minutes into the second half, Hamer looked to level the scores in spectacular fashion with a curling effort past Zion Suzuki, who replaced the aforementioned Bizot at half-time for the visitors.
Villa then regained their control and were rewarded when Abraham swept home his second of the contest from a McGinn corner which evaded several bodies.
It could have got worse for the Sky Blues the other side of the hour-mark as Hemmings’ flick from Mbaye’s cross only just looped over Bentley’s left-hand post.
The hosts’ first clear-cut chance of the half came on 68 minutes as Torp went in search of a brace, but his strike was always drifting wide of the right-hand post.
Although a quarter of the match was still to play, the encounter then petered out into a comfortable night for the competition’s five-time winners, whilst Coventry’s frustrating start to the campaign continued.
FT: Coventry City 1-3 Aston Villa
Player Ratings
Coventry City
Dan Bentley – 6
Bobby Thomas – 5.5
Aurèle Amenda – 6 (Pinnock 12″ – 6)
Stephen Mfuni – 6 (Bidwell 72″ – 6)
Joel Latibeaudiere – 5
Caleb Yirenkyi – 6 (Onyeka 72″ – 6)
Victor Torp – 7
Tatsuhiro Sakamoto – 6.5 (Tchaouna 58 – 6)
Gustavo Hamer – 6.5
Yann Ghobo – 6.5
Sidiki Cherif – 6 (Simms 57″ – 6)
Unused Subs: B.Wilson, M.Grimes, E.Mason-Clark, B.Thomas-Asante
Aston Villa
Marco Bizot – 6 (Suzuki 46″ – 6.5)
Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 7
Taylor Harwood-Bellis – 7
Tyrone Mings – 7
Matteo Ruggeri – 7.5
Lamare Bogarde – 7
Ross Barkley – 8
Ibrahim Mbaye – 8 (Buendia 64″ – 7)
John McGinn – 7 (Manzambi 64″ – 6.5)
George Hemmings – 7.5 (Alysson 79″ – 6)
Tammy Abraham – 8.5 (Jackson 69″ – 6)
Unused Subs: M.Cash, V.Lindelof, B.Kamara, A.Garnacho
