St. Louis City 1-2 Aston Villa
Men
31 July 25
Aston Villa continued their pre-season preparations with a 2-1 victory over St. Louis City SC in Missouri.
Morgan Rogers opened the scoring in the 14th minute, his second goal in as many matches on the club’s pre-season trip to the USA.
His strike came courtesy of another Donyell Malen assist, with the Netherlands international also claiming both in last Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Ollie Watkins doubled Villa’s tally in the 56th minute, heading home Matty Cash’s cross from close range for his second goal Stateside.
Cedric Teuchert reduced the deficit for the MLS side from the edge of the area just before the hour mark, but it was Villa who held on to their advantage, with Samuel Iling Jr hitting a post late on.
Unai Emery used a total of 22 players at Energizer Park, with Villa now returning to Tennessee for the final match of their tour against Nashville SC on Saturday.
Emi Martínez lined up between the sticks and John McGinn wore the captain’s armband for their first minutes of pre-season, while there was also a start at right-back for youngster Triston Rowe.
Villa made a positive start to the encounter and Emi Buendía’s close-range header was parried by City goalkeeper Roman Burki after just four minutes.
The visitors continued on the front foot and soon got their opener, McGinn winning possession in the middle of the park, feeding Malen and slotting the ball through for Rogers to convert.
City, formerly managed by Villa legend Olof Mellberg, gradually came into the first half as it wore on but Villa’s resilient defence stood firm, Rogers finding the side-netting just after the half-hour mark.
Malen latched on to a long throw from Martínez and raced clear in the 36th minute but could only fire wide, before Leon Bailey sent an effort off target.
Martínez was called upon to make an impressive reaction save from Tomas Ostrak just before the break as Villa led at the interval.
Manager Emery made 10 changes at half-time, with Buendía the only player returning for the second half.
And the Villans soon made it 2-0 as substitute Watkins nodded home Cash’s right-wing cross from close range.
City immediately responded and Teuchert converted with a low strike from 20 yards in the 59th minute.
Travis Patterson was introduced before Marco Bizot was called upon to make a diving save to parry Teuchert’s powerful header.
Both teams pressed forward in search of further reward, Iling Jr going closest when he struck the near post in the final stages.
Played in front of an impressive crowd, boasting a carnival atmosphere for the summer fixture, it proved a valuable test as Villa gained more minutes under their belt as they prepare for the start of the Premier League campaign.
Aston Villa: Martínez (Bizot 46), Rowe (Cash 46), Konsa (Bogarde 46), Torres (Mings 46), Maatsen (Digne 46), Bailey (Iling Jr 46), McGinn (Kamara 46), Onana (Tielemans 46), Buendía (Patterson 65), Rogers (Watkins 46), Malen (Jimoh-Aloba 46).
Subs: Gauci, Ramsey.
