The Aston Villa captain praised his teammate after his heroics in Monday night’s Premier League win at Villa Park.
Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish has praised teammate Conor Hourihane following his set piece heroics from last night’s Premier League win at Villa Park.
The Steve Bruce signing tormented his former boss as he helped Villa claim a 2-0 win over Newcastle United with a goal and an assist, both from free kicks.
Hourihane opened the scoring just after the half-hour mark as his free kick was teed up by Grealish, the left-footed effort curled around the wall and into the back of the net.
The Irishman then whipped in a superb free kick from the left for Anwar El Ghazi to smash home from point-blank range and put Villa two up, the opposition unable to muster a response.
“We all know the quality that Conor Hourihane has from set pieces and he showed that tonight,” Grealish told Sky Sports News – as quoted by BBC Sport – about the 5ft 11in ace after the match. “In the last minute of the set up for the free kick, he told me where he wanted it and got an assist.
“We have a lot of pressure on our shoulders, out of the three teams that came up we spent the most. We always knew we had a bit of pressure on us but I am sure with the players we have we can do that (stay up).”
Hourihane has struggled for game time this season under Dean Smith, starting just four Premier League games prior to last night’s game, but the manager’s decision to name him in the XI against Newcastle proved a masterstroke.
The 28-year-old has made 122 appearances for Villa since joining from Barnsley in 2017, scoring 26 goals and registering 19 assists, and also has 12 caps for the Republic of Ireland (Transfermarkt).
Up next for 15th-placed Villa is Sunday’s Premier League trip to Manchester United.
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