West Midlands Football Review: Near-perfect weekend for West Midlands teams

Another round of EFL and Premier League fixtures has gone by and it was an incredibly strong showing for West Midlands sides.

Only Stoke City lost in the league this weekend, with every other team in the region getting positive results in their fixtures.

Aston Villa made a triumphant return to European football this week by battering Hibs in the first leg of their Conference League Play-Off. A hat-trick for Ollie Watkins was added to with goals for Leon Bailey and Douglas Luiz. Unai Emery’s men followed this up by beating Burnley on Sunday, with a brace from Matty Cash and a Moussa Diaby strike firing them to the win.

Gary O’Neil also grabbed his first win as Wolves boss with a potentially huge win over relegation rivals Everton. Sasa Kalajdzic scored his first goal in Wolves colours and his first since the horrendous injury that kept him out for the entirety of last season to give Wolves a potentially decisive three points.

Birmingham City continued their unbeaten start to the season by beating Plymouth Argyle. New arrival Jay Stansfield netted a dramatic 95th-minute winner for Blues to give John Eustace’s side their third win on the bounce and fire them to third in the league.

Elsewhere in the Championship, Coventry City’s stuttering start to the season continued with a goalless draw at home to surprise strugglers Sunderland. The two sides, both of whom qualified for the Play-Offs last season, practically cancelled each other out in a very evenly-matched tie at the CBS Arena.

Stoke City also slipped to a second defeat of the season away to Play-Off rivals Millwall. A first-half strike from Kevin Nisbet was enough to condemn Alex Neil’s men to defeat, with star man Andre Vidigal failing to score for the first time this season.

West Brom moved to within two points of the top six with a thumping win over bottom-placed Middlesbrough. Goals from Cedric Kipre, John Swift, Brandon Thomas-Asante and Jeremy Sarmiento wrapped up an impressive win over the ten men of Boro.

In League One, Port Vale extended their impressive unbeaten run with a win over Carlisle. A James Wilson penalty was enough to make it four unbeaten for Vale as they cemented their place in the top six.

Shrewsbury Town made a return to winning ways by beating nine-man Fleetwood Town. Daniel Udoh scored the only goal of the game in the first half, with Jay Lynch and Josh Earl both getting dismissed for Fleetwood.

Mat Sadler’s sticky start to life as Walsall manager continued with a draw and a defeat. The Saddlers faced off against Brighton Under-21s in the EFL Trophy, with a brace from Andrew Moran condemning them to defeat. They then hosted Grimsby Town in League Two, where they needed a late Ryan Stirk goal to secure a point. Chris Hussey was also given a late red for The Saddlers.

There is plenty of midweek cup action this week across the Carabao Cup and Conference League. Aston Villa have the second leg of their Conference League Play-Off with Hibs on Thursday, while Birmingham, Wolves, Port Vale and Stoke all play in the Second Round of the Carabao Cup.