Aston Villa produced a stunning first-half performance to blow Derby City away at Villa Park.
The home side dominated possession from the start, and there was only 9 minutes on the clock when Conor Hourihane tapped home after a Tammy Abraham shot had been well saved by Scott Carson.
Dean Smith’s men continued to dominate, and they doubled their lead in the 37th minute when Abraham slid in from close range for his 21st goal of the season.
If Frank Lampard thought things couldn’t get any worse before half-time, he was sorely mistaken – Hourihane got his second of the match in the 44th minute, and Jack Grealish, who was playing his first game since December, put the icing on the cake when he thundered home a sumptuous volley in injury time.
Villa took their feet of the gas in the second-half, but they still dominated and forced Carson into a couple of decent saves. Derby, on the other hand, offered nothing in attack and failed to have a single shot on target.
The only negative for Villa was the serious-looking injury that Tommy Elphick picked up just after the hour mark. It looks like one that will keep him out for a long period of time.
Here are our player ratings for today’s game against Derby:
