Aston Villa thrash Bristol City to close gap on rivals

Aston Villa have defeated Bristol City 5-0 at Villa Park to make it two wins in a row and close the gap on their automatic promotion rivals.

The Villans ran riot in the West Midlands, scoring twice in the first half and adding a few more in the second 45 minutes.

A sixth victory in seven home meetings with the Robins lifts Villa up to fifth place in the Championship standings - three points behind their opponents, who have now suffered back-to-back losses.

City made a bright enough start to the contest, with Marlon Pack flashing a shot wide and Josh Brownhill doing likewise from a similar position.

Scott Hogan opened the scoring for the hosts a quarter of the way into the match, though, as he climbed highest to direct a header beyond replacement goalkeeper Luke Steele.

Villa had a penalty shout rejected soon after when the ball hit Bailey Wright's hand, but they did not have to wait long for a second as Robert Snodgrass scored his first of the evening by firing home from the rebound after Hogan's attempt was saved.

Jack Grealish then curled the ball against the bar as Villa's quality continued to show, though it was so nearly game on when Aden Flint had an effort cleared off the line by Mile Jedinak.

The hosts took back control of the match and added a third and fourth goal, with Snodgrass cutting inside and placing the ball out of Steele's reach, while substitute Birkir Bjarnason kept his composure after being played through by Alan Hutton.

Conor Hourihane rounded off the scoring in the final five minutes, latching on to a loose ball and sending a deflected shot beyond Steele's reach.

Aston Villa (4-1-4-1): Johnstone; Elmohamady, Elphick, Chester, Hutton; Jedinak; Snodgrass, Hourihane, Grealish (O'Hare 80'), Adomah (Bjarnason 70'); Hogan (Hepburn-Murphy 83')

Bristol City (4-4-1-1): Steele; Wright, Flint, Baker, Magnusson (Kelly 46'); Brownhill, Smith, Pack (Taylor 46'), Bryan; Reid; Paterson (Woodrow 79')