EFL Trophy: Wycombe Wanderers 1-3 Aston Villa

Aston Villa came from behind to beat Wycombe Wanderers in the EFL Trophy Southern Group C at Adams Park on Tuesday night.

The Chairboys took an early lead through Connor Parsons and were looking strong until the Young Lions found their stride.

Morgan Sanson sent Cameron Archer racing away to level the scores just before the interval, with Villa proceeding to dominate the second half.

Chances came and went for Mark Delaney’s side before Jaden Philogene-Bidace netted a brace to secure the club’s first EFL Trophy win at the sixth attempt.

Sanson made a first appearance of the season as he continued his comeback from injury, while Archer and Philogene-Bidace were also included in a strong Villa line-up.

But it was the League One side who struck an early blow, with Parsons slamming home at the back post after Garath McCleary had jinked his way to the byline and slid the ball across.

Villa came close to an instant reply as Philogene-Bidace narrowly missed the target with the goal at his mercy after great work from Archer.

A front three of Archer, Caleb Chukwuemeka and Philogene-Bidace were causing problems with their pace and skill, and when the aforementioned duo combined to release Philogene-Bidace, only a last-ditch tackle from Andre Burley denied him a leveller.  

At the other end, a composed Oliwier Zych made a super stop with his feet to deny Brandon Hanlan.

Following his hat-trick against Barrow last week, Archer was in confident mood. And the forward smartly tucked away from a tight angle to level things up on 42 minutes, superbly assisted by Sanson.

Hayden Lindley replaced the Frenchman at half-time and the midfielder formed part of a Villa side buoyed by their goal.

Balls in behind Wycombe’s backline were causing havoc and on one such occasion a stunning double save from Adam Przybek denied Archer and Finley Thorndike.

Philogene-Bidace miscued from close range and Tim Iroegbunam shot wide as the chances kept coming for the visitors before they finally converted after 67 minutes.

Chukwuemeka released Archer on the right and his low cross was controlled by Philogene-Bidace before the winger turned it into the back of the net.

The hosts had lost their attacking edge, but a great chance presented itself to McCleary due to an unfortunate slip by Sil Swinkels. The winger looked reluctant to shoot from a tight angle before Zych made a smart save.

A frantic eight minutes of stoppage time was negotiated with only a minor scare before Philogene-Bidace rounded off the night with a thumping strike as Villa started their EFL Trophy campaign with a win.