Aston Villa have moved out of the bottom three with a win over Burnley at Turf Moor in the Premier League.
Aston Villa have ended a 30-year wait to complete a festive double, having beaten Norwich on Boxing Day at Villa Park before winning on New Year's Day.
It was another Jack Grealish-inspired performance that took the game away from Sean Dyche's Burnley as Villa stormed into a 2-0 lead before half time.
VAR ruled that Grealish's 20-minute opener would be disallowed after closer inspection saw Wesley's heel trail offside. The Brazilian forward played his part in what would've been his first goal contribution since October in the Premier League.
After Villa persisted on breaking the deadlock, Wesley went one better than creating, indeed scoring his fifth goal of the season by volleying past Nick Pope.
Grealish would soon get back in on the act through a moment of brilliance himself. As he collected the ball inside the box, he shifted it across Phil Bardsley before slamming past Pope to double Villa's advantage.
Douglas Luiz twice squandered the opportunity to score Villa's third but two goals would be enough as Burnley only managed to halve the deficit in a dominant second half.
Serious-looking knee injuries to Wesley and Tom Heaton will be of concern to Villa boss Smith who will turn his attentions to the January window to ensure Premier League survival come May.
Takeaways
Villa need reinforcements
Wesley's injury will force Dean Smith's and Villa's hand to explore striking options in a notoriously difficult window to buy goalscorers and quality signings alike.
Disappointed Dyche
'Maximum effort is the minimum requirement' is the mantra by which any Sean Dyche team must abide, but against Villa, the Clarets were slow and second-best throughout the tie.
Smith answered the critics
Lacking a 'plan B' was the call from most Villa fans who before the trip to Turf Moor had only seen their side win once on the road this season. Reverting his side to a five at the back system, Grealish was free on the flanks, and defensively, Villa looked sound.
Man of the match
Grealish was the difference as he so often is, for a Villa side carried by their brilliant skipper.
Grealish has 13 goal contributions to his name in all competitions this season, having seamlessly made the transition from the Championship to Premier League. He's now knocking on the door for his first England senior call ahead of EURO 2020.
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