Donyell Malen’s two goals continued Aston Villa’s revival as they beat Burnley 2-1 to make it four wins in a row.
Villa’s campaign had got off to a difficult start and, after no wins in their opening six games, questions were being asked of Unai Emery.
But they followed up Europa League victories over Bologna and Feyenoord and a Premier League success against Fulham with another three points at Villa Park.
Netherlands international Malen was the hero, getting off the mark for the season with a goal in each half, to mark boss Emery’s 150th game in charge with a fitting three points.
ESPN reports that Burnley got back into the game through Lesley Ugochukwu, but lost for a fifth time in seven matches amid a tough run of fixtures, having played Tottenham, Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City and now Villa.
The hosts were the quickest to find their attacking groove and Morgan Rogers’ deflected effort whizzed just past the post, with Ezri Konsa seeing a powerful header from the resulting corner well saved by Martin Dúbravka.
The breakthrough game in the 25th minute and it was made by Boubacar Kamara’s brilliant pass.
Villa worked the ball well in tight space in their own half and, when play opened up, Kamara sent an arcing through ball straight into path of Malen, who outpaced Maxime Estève and slid the ball into the far corner.
While the hosts continued to be protagonists, they needed goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez to keep them in front 10 minutes later as the Argentina goalkeeper got down well to turn Josh Cullen’s effort around the goal post.
