Bolton Wanderers 1-4 Aston Villa

Aston Villa came from behind to beat Bolton Wanderers and reach Round 3 of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.

The League One side went ahead after 24 minutes when Dion Charles delighted the majority of the crowd inside the University of Bolton Stadium with a close-range finish.

Villa, who were backed by over 5,000 travelling supporters, drew level when Douglas Luiz scored direct from a corner as the teams went in 1-1 at half-time.

A dominant second-half display from the away side ensured safe passage to the next round, with Danny Ings netting a penalty, Lucas Digne adding a third - his first goal for the club - and substitute Leon Bailey rounding off the win. 

For the first meeting between the sides since a Championship encounter in 2019, Steven Gerrard selected a strong starting XI that included Philippe Coutinho playing behind strikers Ollie Watkins and Ings.

And it was the Brazilian who looked most likely to get the visitors off to a fast start as he fired two efforts on target within the first 10 minutes.

Bolton, sitting seventh in League One after five games, began to come under pressure after a spirited opening, with Ings drawing a smart stop from Joel Dixon before Watkins saw a goal disallowed for offside.

However, Wanderers delighted their home crowd after 24 minutes when they took a shock lead. Dapo Afolayan and Kieran Lee won the ball just outside Villa’s penalty area before the latter turned away from Calum Chambers and rolled the ball across to Charles for a simple finish.

The team in white held the lead for 12 minutes before the away side restored parity in spectacular fashion.

Luiz, making his first start of the season, delivered an inswinging corner that evaded the flailing arm of Dixon and curled wickedly into the far corner.

At the start of the second half, a rampaging Digne fired a warning shot just wide as the visitors signalled their attacking intent before Ings struck the post after being played through by Watkins.

Villa’s No.9 was in the thick of the action once again just past the hour mark when he collected Coutinho’s through ball, knocked the ball past the ‘keeper and went down under Dixon’s challenge.

Referee Andrew Kitchen had no hesitation pointing to the spot, and after two minutes of Bolton protests, Ings stepped up and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way with a drilled spot kick.

A third goal quickly followed when Digne burst forward on the left flank once again, racing on to the ball inside the penalty area and finishing first-time past Dixon at his near post.

Substitute Emi Buendía came close to getting on the scoresheet before Bailey did find a route to goal in the closing stages, jinking past a defender and coolly rolling the ball home.