Albert Adomah’s double and a first Aston Villa goal for teenager Keinan Davis secured a much-needed victory for Aston Villa at Barnsley.
Having picked up just one win from their opening seven league matches of the season and with manager Steve Bruce’s future coming under increasing scrutiny, Villa could not afford any further slip-ups as they look to ignite hopes of a return to the Premier League.
And they never looked in danger of picking up anything other than three points after Adomah had latched on an error from Barnsley’s Adam Davies to open the scoring.
Barnsley (4-5-1): Davies; McCarthy, Jackson, Lindsay, Pearson; Joe Williams, Hammill, Potts, Moncur (Ugbo 45), Barnes (Hedges 45); Bradshaw (Thiam 70)
Aston Villa (4-4-2): Johnstone; Elmohamady, Terry, Chester, Taylor; Snodgrass (Bjarnason 83), Hourihane, Whelan, Adomah; Davis (Hogan 75), Kodjia (Onomah 61)
Adomah – making his first league start of the season – doubled the lead a minute before half-time from the penalty spot before Davis made the points safe 10 minutes into the second period as Villa scored three goals away from home for the first time since March 2015.