Aston Villa made the trip to Colchester on Wednesday for their first round EFL Cup tie with the League Two side, and they narrowly would come away with a 1-2 win in the match. Here are three thoughts:
Hogan causes problems
Striker Scott Hogan has struggled since making his move to Villa in January, but he went some way to correcting that with his play on Tuesday night. In what can only be calling sloppy, opposition goalkeeper Sam Walker fumbled the ball to the feet of Hogan. The Englishman made no mistake to slot in.
That wasn’t the tough part, rather being there is the important part. Half of the striker’s job is to make problems and he did just that on the second goal as well, as Albert Adomah got in down the right and tried to cross for the former Brentford man. Instead of him getting there, defender Frankie Kent did. It was diverted into the net, and the score was 0-2 to the visitors.
Steer comes up big
Right when Villa took the lead and set to get some separation, they were pegged back when they conceded a penalty. Then, in front of the traveling support, the backup goalkeeper made a big save down to his right to prevent Colchester from immediately leveling.
This save very well could have turned the result around, and it likely did. Steer might not be the starter as of now, but by performing as he did, he has certainly given manager Steve Bruce a lot to think about. Toward the end of the match, he would only affirm this when he made a big save from open play to ensure Villa advance to the second round.
Villa create chances, but fail to finish
For one reason or another, Villa were denied scoring goals from the 19th minute onward in the match. Much of that was due to find goalkeeping, and Bruce will be happy that they created the chances. But he will also know that if they are to get into the top flight come next season that those chances have got to be finished.
The positive here is that the Villans won’t be calling upon these players when the brightest lights are on. The bad news is that if someone does get injured, they could be in a spot of bother if this kind of finishing (or lack thereof) persists.
