Cameron Jerome scores his third goal of the week and earns the Rams a hard fought draw
The game of the day between Villa and the Rams lived up to expectation as the Rams took an early lead through Cameron Jerome’s third goal in a week.
A run by former Villa Player, Andreas Weimann and a pulled back pass to Jerome was struck in one flowing movement and nestled in the bottom left-hand corner of the goal.
Derby fought well for the first twenty minutes but Villa finally put themselves into gear and the second part of the half was all pressure from Villa.
The half-time whistle couldn’t come soon enough for the Rams but after three agonizing minutes of time added on the whistle blew and Gary Rowett could give his half-time team talk and hopefully send the Rams out with renewed vigour for the second period.
The second period started much in the same vein as the first ended, with Aston Villa forcing the pace and looking to get the equalising goal.
Derby had chances and a run and shot by Tom Lawrence was going goalwards but didn’t have the direction or pace to beat Johnstone.
The hour mark came and Derby continued to defend with not a single Rams player inside the Villa half but Villa couldn’t find that final ball to unlock the Derby defense and the Rams still looked a danger on the break.
Matej Vydra entered the fray in the 68th Minute replacing Tom Lawrence, Gary Rowett hoping he could reproduce Tuesday’s scoring appearance from off the bench but chances were few as Villa continued to attack.
Seventy minutes and Villa continue to press and Derby are under increasing pressure but the Rams continue to ride their luck as some promising Villa attacks still don’t have the killer finishing shot or head.
Villa finally found the goal they were after in the 83rd minute. The goal had been coming and a goalmouth scramble found the boot of Lewis Grabban who thundered the ball home to the great relief of the Villa fans. A just reward for all their pressure and seventy two percent of the possession.
Villa Park
Championship
28/04/2018 4:00 pm
Attendance: 40000
Referee: S Duncan
| Aston Villa | Derby County | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grabban (83) | Jerome (14) | ||||||
| Johnston | Carson | ||||||
| Elmohamady | Wisdom | ||||||
| Chester | Davies | ||||||
| Terry | Keogh | ||||||
| Taylor | Forsyth | ||||||
| Whelan | Huddlestone | ||||||
| Snodgrass | Johnson | ||||||
| Hourihane | Pearce | ||||||
| Grealish | Lawrence | ||||||
| Adomah | Weimann | ||||||
| Grabban | Jerome | ||||||
Substitutes |
|||||||
| Bunn | Roos | ||||||
| Hogan | Palmer | ||||||
| Hutton | Olsson | ||||||
| Jedinak | Vydra | ||||||
| Kodjia | Hanson | ||||||
| Lansbury | Ledley | ||||||
| Qnomah | Nugent | ||||||
Game Statistics |
||
| 19 | Goal attempts | 7 |
| 3 | On Target | 3 |
| 9 | Corners | 2 |
| 4 | Fouls | 6 |
| 0 | Yellow Cards | 1 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 72 | % | 28 |