Aston Villa

Leon Bailey and Emi Buendía were on target as Aston Villa recorded a 2-1 victory over Leeds United under the lights at Villa Park.

Aston Villa have beaten strugglers Leeds 2-1 in their Premier League clash, bouncing back from a FA Cup exit at the hands of fourth-tier Stevenage.

But the equaliser was beyond them and they remained two points above the drop zone. After halftime, Villa's comfort goal in the 64th by Emiliano Buendia off a rebound shot by Bailey was initially ruled out for offside. Villa are 11th, and in a better mood after falling to fourth-tier Stevenage in the FA Cup last weekend.

Aston Villa continued their charge up the Premier League table under Unai Emery with a win over Leeds United. The visitors certainly put in an improved ...

They were yet to win since the World Cup break, a run which also extends before it to six games in all competitions, leaving them just a couple of points above the relegation zone this weekend. With three wins and a draw from his first five Premier League games in charge of the club, Unai Emery’s time at Aston Villa has clearly gotten off to a positive start. The visitors certainly put in an improved performance relative to their recent run of results, but it should be noted that the tactical pattern of the match suited them as Villa were happier to keep more of the ball.

Minute-by-minute report: Aston Villa have moved away from danger under Unai Emery, but can Jesse Marsch pull them back in? Join John Brewin.

Leeds are five points behind Villa in the table, and have yet to win a post-World Cup match, making it over two months since Jesse Marsch was able to celebrate a win. In late December, the Brazilian took to social media to rage against what he described as “lies” suggesting he was unhappy at Villa and had asked to leave in January. But in general I think it has been solid, but we know we can get better and that will be the priority tonight. We want to press well and be very aggressive without the ball. We want to improve and have better balance in the squad with different profiles. 10 min: Digne leaves the field in agony, and the physios have to hold his arm up as he leaves. 22 min: Gnonto, on the burst, is the latest to feel a bump and bruise as he’s fouled. We were thinking about different players, but Moreno is the player we had in focus. A fine advert for Our League, in that both teams are going at it full bore, and all to the good. I understand wanting to protect the referees on the field, but the way they have deployed VAR to essentially rubber stamp the decision on the field feels self-defeating. 45+2 min: Leeds have the ball in the net! 44 min: Gnonto and Ashley Young, the latter 18 years older than the former has been quite a contest.

With goals from Kenza Dali and Rachel Daly, Aston Villa became the first team to win in the Women's Super League in 2023 as they beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 ...

A nippy piece of play saw the ball progress up the pitch for midfield maestro, Kenza Dali to lash home from outside the box. However, despite barely having a chance, it was Spurs who broke the deadlock when new signing, Beth England swept Kerys Harrop's deft cross into the back of the Villa net. With the two teams cancelling each other out for large swathes of the match after the break, chances were at a premium with few clear goalscoring opportunities created leaving the game to fizzle out.

Rachel Daly scores ninth league goal of the season to wrap up Aston Villa's 2-1 win over Tottenham, dishing out Spurs' fifth consecutive WSL defeat.

Villa win it back and Hanson delivers it to Daly and she takes a one touch finish! 74 min: Bizet tries to get the ball in the box for a chance but the ball is swarmed by Villa players and they can clear. 42 min: The ball is popped into a great position but it is cleared well. 53 min: Hanson plays a great ball to Staniforth, she passes to Dali who gets it in the box. Villa get a free kick in their own half and they are patient on the ball, they don’t opt to launch it upfield. Summanen takes the kick but it is straight into the wall. Play continues but as boos ring around Villa kick the ball out of play and Nobbs can get back to her feet. Spurs have a great chance to equalise with the ball put in a perfect place but Leat collects well. 82 min: Villa end up running it back to Leat but they run it through the team. 90 + 3 min: Spurs are throwing everything at the Villa defence but the home side are doing enough to repel them at the moment. Beth England had a good debut with a goal to put Spurs ahead but Kenza Dali and Rachel Daly scored to ensure it was hosts Villa who took the points. A win for the Blues would put more distance between themselves and the Gunners but an Arsenal victory would see them level Chelsea on points with a game in hand.

England, who made a record move between WSL clubs leaving Chelsea for £250,000 at the beginning of January, scored in the 28th minute to give Tottenham the lead ...

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