Dean Smith believes he’s struck the perfect remedy to look good in the Premier League as Aston Villa thumped Fulham 3-0 at Craven Cottage. The victory was Villa’s second in as many Premier League games and their first on the road since New Year’s Day. The ever-bright Jack Grealish, Conor Hourihane and Tyrone Mings got the goals, with Villa also recording their second-successive clean sheet – and their first away from home in 27 league matches.
Dean Smith said “It was a good all-round performance, we’ve got the balance just right at the moment. We’ve got some good quality going forward and there’s a real desire to keep the ball out of the back of the net at the moment which is really pleasing. It’s the balance between defence and attack. It’s something that’s very hard to get right in football. Before lockdown we were guilty of being gung-ho trying to win games. After lockdown, we defended deeper and in numbers. We scored some good goals tonight and we showed resilience to keep a clean sheet. It was an all-together team performance. There wasn’t anybody who shirked a challenge. It was really pleasing to get JJ (Jacob Ramsey) on as well. He earned his chance with his performance at Bristol City to make his Premier League debut and he got a round of applause by the players.”
