U18s: Norwich City 2-3 Aston Villa

Aston Villa picked up their first win of 2022 on Saturday, downing Norwich City in the Under-18 Premier League.

Travis Patterson gave the visiting Villans the lead after 13 minutes before the hosts hit back through Ken Aboh as the sides went in level at the break.

A first goal in claret and blue for Omari Kellyman and another for Dewain Sewell put the visitors 3-1 up.

Villa finished with ten men after substitute Aaron O’Reilly was shown a red card in injury time after he gave away a penalty, which was converted by Aboh.

When the two sides met earlier in the season, Villa were firing on all cylinders as they ruthlessly racked up the goals during a 10-0 win.

But the early signs in Norfolk were that this would be a much harder match, with Alex Matos testing James Wright before Oscar Thorn somehow missed the target from three yards out.

Villa responded well to the home side’s spell of pressure and hit the front when Patterson’s low free-kick evaded the wall and squirmed through the hands of goalkeeper Jayden St Paul.

Norwich continued to fire efforts at goal before they struck back on 34 minutes.

Dubem Eze intercepted Todd Alcock’s pass and drove towards the box before teeing up Aboh, who took a touch before toe-poking the ball beyond Wright.

The home side pushed forward at the start of the second half and came within inches of taking the lead when a sliding Aboh flicked a cross onto the post.

A piece of proactive play from substitute Kellyman handed Villa the initiative on 64 minutes when he stole the ball off a Norwich player and ran into the box before sliding the ball past St Paul.

Sewell, who scored a hat-trick against the Canaries earlier in the season, extended his side’s advantage eight minutes later with a sublime finish.

The striker picked the ball up on the edge of the box with his back to goal, turning sharply and sending a cultured shot into the top corner.

For the most part, Villa were comfortable in the closing stages before O’Reilly conceded a penalty, allowing Aboh to get his second of the game in the final minute of added time.