U21s: Aston Villa 3-1 Derby County

Aston Villa secured a comfortable victory against Derby County in their opening Premier League 2 fixture of the season.

The Young Lions bossed proceedings from the off at Bodymoor Heath and took the lead when Ben Broggio tapped home Kadan Young’s cross after ten minutes.

Young created the home side’s second three minutes later, with Broggio finishing the move with a drilled finish to bag his brace.

Chances came and went at regular intervals for Villa before Rico Richards cooly slotted home number three with five minutes left to play.

A late consolation from Manni Ilesanmi failed to take the shine off a strong performance by the team in claret and blue.

Summer addition Ethan Amundsen-Day made his debut for the club as Josep Gombau’s side got their league campaign up and running, and they made a bright start against the Rams.

Broggio, who scored in the corresponding fixture last season, had the simple task of tapping home after a mazy run by Young.

The duo linked up to devastating effect again three minutes later, with Broggio controlling another Young cross before rifling a shot past Jack Thompson.

A constant threat to County, the irrepressible Young cut in and sent a rasping effort over the bar before threatening again when was denied by the ‘keeper after going through on goal.

There was little to worry about at the other end in the first 45 minutes, with Kerr Smith acting quickly to block Jerry Yates’ goalbound effort.

Villa started the second half in the mood to add to their lead, sending another effort at Thompson via the right boot of Rory Wilson.

Broggio was on the hunt for a hat-trick and only a desperate lunge from Harry Hawkins flicked his shot over the bar at the end of a fine solo run.

Sam Lewis was a bystander in the Villa goal until the hour mark, when he made a tremendous stop from Alex Stepien-Iwumene’s close-range effort.

Gombau introduced a number of players from the bench to build on the hosts’ lead, and Richards was inches away from doing so when his powerful curler bent narrowly wide.

After Charlie Lutz dragged a shot wide, Derby subs Freddie Turley and Ilesanmi combined to cut Villa open, but the latter somehow failed to connect with the former’s cross from two yards out.

Derby found themselves three down soon after when Richards raced onto Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba’s through ball and burst into the box before passing the ball into the bottom corner.

Almost immediately from the restart the visitors had something to show for their efforts as Lewis’ clearance cannoned off Ilesanmi and rolled into the net.

Yates struck a post in the closing stages but Derby failed to set up a grandstand finish.