Sam Allardyce paid a reluctant tribute to Jack Grealish after the Aston Villa captain inspired Sunday’s 3-0 thrashing of West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns, while speaking to BT Sport (20 December, 9.30pm).
A week after triumphing 1-0 away at Wolverhampton Wanderers, Dean Smith’s side took three more points from the home of a Midlands rival.
If it wasn’t for some last-gasp blocks, a number of fine Sam Johnstone saves and a whole bagful of squandered chances, Aston Villa might have joined Manchester United and Liverpool in the ‘six-plus’ club during a 3-0 win that could have easily finished with a seven-goal margin.
The visitors dominated from start to finish – aided by Jake Livermore’s foolish first-half red card – with Anwar El-Ghazi’s double bookending a quite sublime effort from Bertrand Traore; the £17 million summer signing producing his finest Premier League performance.
Captain marvel Grealish, meanwhile, added yet another masterpiece to his growing collection and won a late penalty which El Ghazi tucked away for Villa’s third of the night.
“He is an outstanding individual, one Aston Villa will be delighted to have. If we had a Jack Grealish, with all due respect to my players, we would stay up,” Allardyce said after his first game back in management since 2018 ended in the limpest of limp defeats.
Slaven Bilic’s successor had no complaints about Livermore’s early red card, but he did suggest that Villa defender Kortney Hause should have suffered the same fate for a similarly reckless lunge just a few minutes later.
“The Kortney Hause tackle on Grady Diangana; why has VAR not asked the referee to look at the screen? We might have got the same decision,” 66-year-old Allardyce added.
“He jumped down his shin and down his ankle, I don’t know whether that is inconsistency or not. I have been here one minute and already talking about VAR.”
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