Ollie Watkins has grabbed a goal and two assists, as Aston Villa thrashed lowly Sheffield United 5-0 at Bramall Lane to climb to fourth in English Premier League standings.
Unai Emery's Villa, who won for only the second time in six league games, are level on 46 points with third-placed Arsenal, although the north Londoners have a game in hand.
Bottom side Sheffield - whose 59 goals conceded are the most by a premier league team at this point of the season - have 10 points, 10 points below the safety zone.
John McGinn opened the floodgates for Villa in the 12th minute, when Watkins' shot came off the post and the Scot was there for a simple tap-in. More misery followed, with Watkins, Leon Bailey and Youri Tielemans scoring to give Villa a commanding 4-0 lead at halftime.
Hundreds of United fans had already left by the time Alex Moreno took advantage of some careless defending less than two minutes after the restart, when Watkins lifted a cross into the box and the unmarked Spaniard smashed in a volley.
Watkins is the first premier league player to achieve double-digits goals (11) and assists (10) this season.
"It's not a bad night for me, to be honest," said Watkins, who took a pinpoint pass from Douglas Luiz for his goal in the 16th minute. "It was massive that we bounced back after a disappointing result against Newcastle midweek."
Vinicius Souza finally gave the home crowd something to cheer about deep in stoppage time, but his goal was disallowed for offside after a video check.
While Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez spent much of the game wandering around his box, he was pressed into action, when he made a terrific double save late in the game.
Reuters
