Dean Smith’s charges achieved something that no previous Villa team had managed for over a century.
It was a day of contrasting emotions at the University of Bolton Stadium on Friday as Aston Villa celebrated a ninth consecutive Championship win, while Bolton Wanderers were officially relegated from the second tier.
The first half saw the visitors enjoy proceedings as Anwar El Ghazi rifled wide following Jack Grealish’s cross while John McGinn had an effort cleared off the line by Harry Brockbank.
Bolton then lost both captain David Wheater and veteran midfielder Gary O’Neil to injury before the break but were able to hold out until the half-time whistle with the scoreline goalless.
However, Villa claimed the lead just two minutes into the second half when Tammy Abraham crossed to the far post for Grealish to head home.
Just 10 minutes later it was the captain to provide the assist for his prolific teammate to score with a header of his own, with Bolton unable to muster a response.
The final whistle blew on a 2-0 win for Dean Smith’s side and on the Whites’ hopes of surviving in the Championship, with League One now a certainty for 2019-20.
For Villa, meanwhile, victory equalled their club record of nine successive wins, set in 1910 – 109 years ago – and left them six points clear of seventh place in the race for the playoff spots, with just three games to go.
Here is how some Villans fans reacted on Twitter to the result at the UoB Stadium:
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