Barrow 0-6 Aston Villa

Cameron Archer scored a hat-trick on his first senior start for the club as Aston Villa hit Barrow for six in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.

The homegrown youngster got the scoring underway after ten minutes before Anwar El Ghazi netted twice, including an audacious Panenka penalty.

Archer grabbed the fourth and Frederic Guilbert lashed home his first Villa goal since January 2020 to make it five.

And in the final few minutes, Archer sealed his treble as the visitors eased into round three.

Dean Smith rang the changes from the weekend’s win against Newcastle, with El Ghazi the only player to keep his place for the long trip north.

And it was the winger who assisted the opener after ten minutes, racing onto captain Conor Hourihane’s through ball and squaring the ball to Archer for a simple finish in the box.

El Ghazi kept his cool from the penalty spot in front of a packed Villa Park on Saturday and he showed his penalty prowess once again when Jaden Philogene-Bidace was felled in the box.

Having seen the goalkeeper move to his right, the Dutchman stepped up and nonchalantly dinked the ball into the middle of the net with 24 minutes on the clock.

Offrande Zanzala was proving to be Barrow’s best outlet on their rare forays forward, and the striker came close to scoring when he headed a cross inches over the crossbar.

With the first half deep in injury time, the visitors netted a third. A marauding Guilbert delivered a pinpoint cross to the back post, where a waiting El Ghazi applied the first-time finish.

Jed Steer was relatively untested in the opening 45 minutes, but he had to be at his best less than 90 seconds into the second half to tip Oliver Banks’ low shot around the post.

Villa’s attacking threat had diminished as they looked to retain possession and see the game out, but they clicked into life to find a fourth goal after 63 minutes.

El Ghazi was the creator once again, sliding a pass through to Archer, who showed great composure to chip the onrushing ‘keeper.

Fellow Academy product Philogene-Bidace looked set to make it five before being thwarted by the ‘keeper, with the rebound falling to Guilbert to slam home.

Caleb Chukwuemeka and Aaron Ramsey made their debuts for the club while fellow youngster Hayden Lindley also featured from the bench.

There was time for Archer to cap a perfect night, picking out the bottom corner to complete his hat-trick after 88 minutes.