Aston Villa Beat Derby in 2019 Championship Play-Off Final to Return to EPL

Aston Villa have returned to the Premier League for the first time since 2016, beating Derby County 2-1 in the Championship Play-Off Final at Wembley Stadium on Monday.

Goals from Anwar El Ghazi and John McGinn sealed Villa's route back to the English top flight, while Martyn Waghorn got one back for Derby late on after getting a faint touch on Jack Marriott's shot.

Villa weren't afraid to go long early against a Derby side more comfortable keeping the ball on the deck. The direct approach soon paid dividends as confusion was obvious in the Rams defence:

Unfortunately, further goal-mouth incidents were in short supply during a slow first half. The cautious fare was difficult to take given the number of creative talents on the pitch.

Eventually, the technicians on both sides began to exert themselves:

It made sense for Villa to keep the ball in the air considering their quality and threat from the flanks. Both El Ghazi and Ahmed Elmohamady were keeping Derby on the back foot with direct running and early crosses.

Fittingly, those two players combined for the opener a minute before the break when El Ghazi headed in a cross from the former Hull City man Elmohamady.

The goal was just reward for a player who had been enterprising and industrious during the opening 45 minutes.

El Ghazi and Villa continued to overpower Derby after the restart. On-loan Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham routinely unleashed pace and strength as he led the line brilliantly and ran the Rams ragged.

Derby also remained stretched out wide where El Ghazi was proving particularly difficult to handle. The 24-year-old was central to Villa's second goal when he cut in from the left and unleashed a shot which took a wicked deflection.

Goalkeeper Kelle Roos misjudged the flight of the ball and was beaten to it by McGinn. The ex-Hibernian midfielder got enough purchase on his header to punish Roos' indecision.

McGinn took the plaudits, but it was El Ghazi's wizardry that made the goal.

Derby naturally became increasingly desperate at two down and poured more and more players forward. Marriott was proving the biggest threat, dragging a shot inches wide before another drive aimed for the bottom corner took the slightest of touches off Waghorn to give Derby hope.

It was as close as Derby got, though, despite having seven minutes of injury time to work with. Many of manager Frank Lampard's skilled match-winners failed to sparkle; on-loan Liverpool winger Harry Wilson made the wrong choice too often in the final third.

By contrast, Dean Smith saw his Villa team play to its strengths superbly. There will be more stylish sides in the Premier League next season, but Villa know how to maximise resources to win matches, a quality sure to boost their bid to stay up.