Late Ross Barkley winner extends Aston Villa's perfect start

Oct 20, 2020 06:00 am

A superb stoppage-time goal from Ross Barkley gave Aston Villa a 1-0 victory at Leicester City in a scrappy contest yesterday morning (Singapore time) that stretched the visitors' perfect English Premier League start to four wins on the trot.

The result left Villa second on 12 points with a game in hand over leaders Everton, who have 13. Third-placed Liverpool have 10 from five and Leicester in fourth are on nine, after their second successive home defeat.

Barkley, who is on loan from Chelsea, snatched the winner out of the blue at the King Power Stadium with a low shot from 25 metres which left Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel clutching thin air, as the ball bounced in front of him.

Barkley, who also scored on his Villa debut in a 7-2 drubbing of Liverpool a fortnight ago, was delighted as they started the season with four wins for the first time since 1930.

"An important win today as they were on top and we started slow, but we improved and in the end deserved it," he told Sky Sports. - REUTERS