Aston Villa began their pre-season preparations with a comfortable 5-0 victory over Walsall as João Gomes made his first appearance for the club.
Unai Emery used 23 players during Tuesday evening’s friendly at the Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium, giving senior and academy prospects their first minutes of the summer.
Brian Madjo scored twice before half-time, while George Hemmings added Villa’s second goal. Luka Lynch and Aidan Borland completed the scoring after Emery changed almost his entire team at the interval.
The official Aston Villa match report confirmed that Emi Buendía captained the starting side, with Leon Bailey and Hemmings supporting Madjo in attack.
João Gomes makes Aston Villa debut
Gomes played the second half alongside Borland after completing his £38million move from Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday.
The Brazil international helped Villa control midfield as Emery introduced Tyrone Mings, Matty Cash, Samuel Iling-Junior and several young players.
ReadAstonVilla has already examined what ‘The Pitbull’ João Gomes brings to Villa’s midfield rebuild. His first appearance offered an early opportunity to build fitness rather than provide a full tactical assessment.
Villa’s academy players made the greatest attacking impact. Madjo produced two composed finishes before the break, while Lynch scored with a deflected effort and then created Borland’s goal two minutes later.
Emery will be encouraged by the result, although pre-season performances remain more important than the scoreline. Every member of Villa’s travelling squad received minutes as preparations began without several players involved at the World Cup.
Villa now travel to Portugal to face FC Porto on Saturday at 7pm. They will then return to the Bescot Stadium for a friendly against Real Sociedad next Tuesday.
