Aston Villa is back to the Premier League after three seasons in the second tier

Dean Smith’s men, Aston Villa has been promoted to the Premier League and secured an estimated £170m windfall after holding off a late Derby County fightback to win the Championship play-off final at Wembley.

The victory at the national stadium brings a successful end to what has been at times a tumultuous year for Villa after spending three years in the Championships following the 2016 relegation.

Aston Villa, who were beaten by Fulham in last season’s final, seemed to be cruising to victory when John McGinn added to Anwar El Ghazi’s first-half strike to put them 2-0 up with 30 minutes to go.

However, Rams boss Frank Lampard threw caution to the wind and his side set up a frantic finale when substitute Jack Marriott’s effort from eight yards took a deflection off Martyn Waghorn on its way in.

Despite seven minutes of injury time they could not force an equaliser and now face another season in the second tier, while Villa return to the Premier League for the first time since relegation in 2016.

Promotion at Wembley caps off a remarkable three months for Villa who had looked out of the promotion race before a club-record 10-match winning run saw them finish fifth.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given the value of the game, the first half was a cagey affair.

Rams midfielder Mason Mount was the first player to register a shot on target when he fired straight at Villa keeper Jed Steer from 20 yards late in the half.

With the game drifting towards the break goalless, Dean Smith’s side launched a quick attack that El Ghazi finished off by coming in on the blindside of the static Jayden Bogle and diverting it into the net with his back.

They doubled their advantage when Rams goalkeeper Kelle Roos misjudged the flight of a deflected El Ghazi shot and McGinn beat him to it to head into an empty net.

That sparked Derby into life and they grew into the game before the combination of forwards Marriott and Waghorn got them back in it but it was not enough and they now face a 12th successive season in the Championship.

 

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