Aston Villa beat Middlesbrough 3-0 at Villa Park to make it four wins from their last four games.
Villa were the better team from the first minute right up until the last, and Middlesbrough probably couldn’t have complained if they had lost by more goals – they were just that poor this afternoon.
Tony Pulis set his side up with five defenders and a holding midfield, but the magnificent John Mcginn and Jack Grealish found holes in the defensive line all game and tore Middlesbrough apart.
Villa took the lead that their dominance deserved in the 28th minute when Anwar El Ghazi slotted the ball past Darren Randolph after he had be set clear by a delightful pass from McGinn.
The Scotland international, who has got to be the bargain of the season, then doubled Villa’s lead in the 44th minute when his shot from outside the area found the back of the net.
Albert Adomah put the icing on the cake when he tapped home in the 88th minute after Randolph failed to deal with Keinan Davis’ shot.
Here are our player ratings for today’s game against Middlesbrough:
