View: Bolton goal proves Aston Villa have long way to go defensively
Aston Villa made it through to the third round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday with an important 4-1 win away at Bolton Wanderers.
Douglas Luiz, Danny Ings, Lucas Digne and Leon Bailey grabbed the goals for Steven Gerrard’s side to advance from the second round at the University of Bolton Stadium.
The League One side, though, gave the Villans quite the scare by starting fast against a very strong Premier League XI with Dion Charles putting the Trotters ahead in the first half.
Defensively, it was a goal that would have left Gerrard seething and he, along with his coaching team, have to address some of the glaring problems with the backline of his team.
It began when Luiz was dispossessed on the edge of his own area and decided to stay on the floor and look to the referee rather than try to get the ball back.
The Brazilian should not have been so petulant in not getting a foul and realise that referees in the EFL don’t give fouls for the slightest bit of contact like they do in the top flight.
Calum Chambers then let his side down by diving into a block that was totally unnecessary as the Wanderers attacker faked to run down the left rather than unleash the shot.
A defender as experienced as the Englishman should not get sold so easily by a player two divisions below him and he has not done anything to suggest he should replace Ezri Konsa in the side.
As a result of Chambers’ mistake, Tyrone Mings has to come across to the Bolton attacker but that means he has to leave Charles unmarked in the middle with a practically open goal to aim at.
Digne should have been across to help his centre-half out but the Frenchman was asleep at the back and allowed him the time to put the ball home with ease.
Gerrard has to stop these foolish errors from creeping in anymore because Premier League sides will demolish the Aston Villa defence if they keep it up.
In other Aston Villa news, Patrick Vieira openly explained how he set his Crystal Palace side up to beat the Villans on Saturday.