Aston Villa 2-1 Leicester City

Aston Villa began 2025 with a hard-fought Premier League victory against Leicester City at Villa Park.

Following a cagey first half, Ross Barkley struck a sweet half-volley from the edge of the box to open the scoring after 58 minutes.

The Foxes responded swiftly and levelled the scores five minutes later via Stephy Mavididi, who tapped home at the back post.

Substitute Ian Maatsen made an immediate impact and helped to produce the winning moment on 76 minutes when his cross was turned home by Leon Bailey as the winger netted his first of the season.

The win extended Villa’s unbeaten run at home in the top flight to ten matches as they kicked off the new year on a positive note.

Unai Emery made three enforced changes for the game, with Pau Torres and Diego Carlos ruled out through injury and Morgan Rogers serving a one-game ban.

Tyrone Mings, Matty Cash and Barkley replaced them in the starting XI, but it was a low-key start to the game in B6 as both sides toiled without creating any clearcut chances.

The hosts lost skipper John McGinn to injury inside the opening 20 minutes, and they searched for fluency in the final third as the half wore on, with his replacement Jacob Ramsey patrolling the left side.

But as the first 45 minutes drew to a close, Villa pushed forward and registered the first shot on target when Cash’s fierce drive was palmed away by Jakub Stolarczyk.  

Youri Tielemans fired another effort on goal soon after the restart, but it was the Foxes who spurned a glorious chance to go ahead on 49 minutes.

Bilal El Khannouss picked up a loose ball in the box and laid it back to Mavididi, who sliced a shot wide of the target.

Villa began to assert themselves in the aftermath of Leicester’s close shave, and their spell of pressure produced the opening goal after 58 minutes.

Jannik Vestergaard’s headed clearance bounced out to the edge of the box, where Barkley took a touch before sending a rasping half-volley skimming across the turf and past Stolarczyk.

However, the lead lasted for just five minutes before Mavididi tapped home at the back post following a counter-attack led by former Villan Jordan Ayew.

Emi Buendía and Maatsen were introduced with 15 minutes left to play and the decision paid immediate dividends.

Maatsen won the ball back in the final third and played a one-two with Ramsey before pulling the ball back into the path of Bailey, who applied the finishing touch.

The Jamaican struck the crossbar with a vicious strike and Ollie Watkins blazed over from close range as the home side pushed for a third to kill the game off.

Buendía curled a shot narrowly wide in the closing minutes, while the away side were unable to muster much threat at the other end as Villa collected three points to begin 2025.