Aston Villa lost out to Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League Cup on Saturday afternoon.
The Young Lions were the dominant force in the first half and saw several chances come and go after Kadan Young put them ahead after four minutes.
Those missed opportunities came back to haunt the visiting Villans when Blackburn struck twice in the space of four minutes.
Sam Burns fired home a loose ball to level the scores after 56 minutes before Harrison Wood netted the winner.
The Villans started the day bottom of Group D following a draw and a defeat in their opening two games of the competition, but their outing in Lancashire started with a bang.
The first sight of goal was converted after just four minutes when Young drifted in from the left, took a touch and opened his body up to send a curling effort flying past Aidan Dowling from outside the box.
Ruben Shakpoke came close to doubling the lead shortly after when he shrugged off a defender before seeing his drive deflected narrowly wide of the far post.
However, hosts Blackburn weren’t sitting back, and they called Filip Marschall into action when he got down smartly to save from Harry Leonard after the striker went through one-on-one.
Villa’s goalkeeper preserved his side’s lead once again when Burns was released on the right, getting down smartly to parry the winger’s effort.
A nasty injury sustained by a Blackburn defender caused a lengthy stoppage before Shakpoke blazed over from close-range when play restarted.
Chances kept coming for the visitors, who also saw Young thump an effort against the post as they piled on the pressure before half-time.
Blackburn, who’d picked up one win and one loss from their two group games, began the second half with plenty of attacking intent, and they were rewarded with the leveller after 56 minutes.
Villa failed to clear their lines from a set-piece allowing Burns to slam home after the ball had bobbled around in the box.
The home side capitalised on the momentum and were quick to strike again, taking the lead when Wood was in the right place to tap home a driven ball across the face of goal.
A wave of pressure from the team in white and blue almost produced their third of the afternoon when Josh Feeney deflected a powerful cross towards his own goal, only for Marschall to pull off a stunning reflex save.
Tony Carss introduced Declan Frith and Rory Wilson in an attempt to turn the tide, and the duo combined to force Dowling into a smart save with the latter taking aim.
However, the away side couldn’t find a route to goal as they left empty-handed.
Aston Villa: Marschall, Ealing, Revan, Feeney, A. O'Reilly, Bogarde, Rowe, T. O'Reilly, Afoka (Frith), Young, Shakpoke (Wilson).
Unused subs: Zych, Raikhy, Katsukunya.
