Aston Villa recover to beat West Brom in Championship playoff first leg

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:23 am

Midfielder Conor Hourihane's long-range thunderbolt and forward Tammy Abraham's penalty saw Aston Villa beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 in the first leg of their Championship playoff semifinal at Villa Park on Saturday.

Substitute Hourihane sparked Villa's second-half comeback by finishing off a neat move with a powerful shot that flew past West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone to make it 1-1.

Villa won a penalty four minutes later when midfielder Jack Grealish was brought down by defender Kieran Gibbs and Abraham, on loan from Chelsea, held his nerve to slot the ball in for the winner.

Forward Dwight Gayle had put West Brom ahead in the 16th minute with his 24th goal of the season, latching on to a mistake by midfielder Glenn Whelan and firing a low shot past Villa keeper Jed Steer.

Gayle, West Brom's top scorer this season, was sent off two minutes from time for a second yellow card, meaning he will miss the second leg at The Hawthorns on Tuesday.

Leeds United travel to Derby County for the first leg of the other playoff semi-final later on Saturday, with the winners of the two ties meeting at Wembley on May 27 to decide the final promotion spot.