Aston Villa will be back in the Premier League next season.
The 1982 European champions sealed their return to the English top flight after a three-year absence following their 2-1 victory over Derby County in the Championship play-off final on Monday.
The win was extra special for Jack Grealish, a product of the club’s youth system and a player who was part of the Villa squad during their last campaign in the Premier League in 2015/16.
Grealish, who played the whole game in a pair of boots that appeared to be falling apart, has been a key player for Villa in their charge towards the play-offs in the final weeks of the Championship season.
However, as well as his winner’s medal, he also picked up a nasty cut above his left eye as Villa were presented with the trophy after the game.
Grealish explained how the trophy itself had sliced open the skin above his eyebrow after a teammate inadvertently banged it against his head. Sky cameras captured the exact moment the incident happened.
Jack Grealish has cut his eye open on the Championship play-off final trophy 😂😂
Report: https://t.co/NrJKXdNYcn pic.twitter.com/oNdcZYuh0J
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) May 27, 2019
Having defeated West Bromwich Albion to set up their meeting with Derby, Dean Smith’s side took the lead shortly before half-time through Anwar El Ghazi.
The lead was doubled as the game approached the hour mark when John McGinn took full advantage of a goalkeeping error from Kelle Roos.
Though Villa appeared on the brink of a top flight return at this point, the lead was halved with ten minutes of normal time remaining through Jack Marriott.
Frank Lampard’s men piled on the pressure throughout the seven minutes of added-on time without creating any significant openings.
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