Express & Star

Monday analysis: Aston Villa prove a point with QPR win

Having arrived in London to weather which matched their gloomy mood, Villa returned north with the skies still bleak but their spirits boosted considerably.

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A 2-1 win over QPR, the first time a Villa team had come from behind to win away from home since August 2013, meant pre-match talk of revised expectations prompted by serious injuries to key players was quickly forgotten.

Rarely in the club’s recent history have wins been celebrated, or meant, quite so much. Three points is all it might have earned Steve Bruce’s men and, in the fast-moving world of the Championship, attentions are already turned to the next test at home to Sunderland on Tuesday night.

Yet this was a reminder, to their promotion rivals and perhaps even themselves, that Villa without John Terry and Jonathan Kodjia remain a force to be reckoned with.

QPR had been beaten only once on their own turf prior to Saturday and given bloody noses to the division’s top two in their previous two home matches.

By the final whistle, however, the chief criticism which could be levelled at Villa was their failure to win the game by a wider margin.

In the end, two goals from Albert Adomah – against his boyhood club – were enough to earn victory for Villa, who sprang to life after Jamie Mackie had fired the hosts into an 18th-minute lead. It was a comeback which proved the resilience running through Bruce’s team did not owe everything to the influence of Terry.

Added succour for the manager came from getting his team selection spot on to avoid another post-international break no-show.

Long distance travellers Mile Jedinak and Ahmed Elmohamady had to make do with places on the bench and in the stands respectively. Massimo Luongo, who had shared Jedinak’s near 25,000-mile round-the-world journey with Australia, did start for the hosts, but was withdrawn at half-time.

This was Villa’s fourth win on the road this season, the same number they managed in the whole of last season. Those limp, characterless displays at Cardiff and Reading in August now feel a very long time ago.

Since then, Villa have become a rather formidable counter-attacking unit. For that they owe plenty to the emergence of Keinan Davis, who deserved all the plaudits throw his way after another powerhouse performance performance up front.

The 19-year-old was ably assisted by Adomah, Josh Onomah and Robert Snodgrass, who as an attacking quartet ensured QPR’s defence barely had a moment’s peace.

Kodjia’s loss is undoubtedly a hefty blow yet last season’s top scorer had not been the star of this campaign.

That, to this point, is Adomah, who has now scored eight goals in 15 appearances. Just as important have been the contributions of Conor Hourihane, who now backs up his undoubted class on the ball with physicality. There was something rather fitting in the fact he and Adomah combined for the winner.

Adomah’s first came from the penalty spot with virtually the last kick of the first half after Jack Robinson was adjudged to have blocked Robert Snodgrass’s shot with his hand. Home keeper Alex Smithies had earlier denied both Onomah and Keinan Davis, but it mattered not on a day when optimism was restored.

Villa (4-4-1-1): Johnstone 6, Hutton 6, Chester © 7, Samba 6, Taylor 6, Snodgrass 7 (Jedinak 81), Whelan 6, Hourihane 8, Adomah 8 (Bjarnason 90), Onomah 7 (De Laet 86), Davis 8. Subs not used: Lansbury, Grealish, Jedinak, O’Hare, Steer (gk).