By Sportsmail Reporter
Published: 21:44 BST, 10 April 2019 | Updated: 21:50 BST, 10 April 2019
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Jack Grealish inspired a stirring fightback for 10-man Aston Villa that enhanced their late-season burst for the Championship play-offs.
Villa captain Grealish swept in a sublime second to cap a stunning six-minute spell at the start of the second period in which the visitors made light of their numerical disadvantage to overhaul their half-time deficit.
Trailing to Will Vaulks’ penalty, and with Tyrone Mings dismissed upon its award, Dean Smith’s team came roaring out of the dressing room to turn the game on its head. return them to fifth place and develop a five-point buffer on those chasing a top-six finish.
Captain Jack Grealish scored Aston Villa's second goal by firing through a crowd of bodies
Aston Villa fans scream with delight as their side turnaround a 1-0 deficit to lead at Rotherham
He caressed the ball into the corner to give his side a vital lead in their hunt for promotion
Grealish's goal would prove to be the difference as Villa held out to take a crucial three points
Rotherham: Rodak; Vyner, Ihiekwe (Vassell 77), Robertson, Mattock; Ajayi, Taylor (Williams 84), Vaulks, Towell (Wiles 68), Newell; Smith
Subs not used: Price, Wood, Crooks, Forde
Goals: Vaulks (pen)
Booked: Mattock, Ajayi, Vaulks
Aston Villa: Steer; Elmohamady, Tuanzebe, Mings, Taylor; Hourihane, McGinn, Grealish (Whelan 90); El Ghazi (Kodjia 46), Adomah (Jedinak 37), Abraham.
Subs not used: Sarkic, Lansbury, Green, Davis
Goals: Kodjia (pen), Grealish
Booked: Mings, Abraham
Sent off: Mings
Having missed their first penalty of the evening through Tammy Abraham, the responsibility for taking their second passed to substitute Jonathan Kodjia, who laced into the top corner within seconds of entering the action, following Semi Ajayi’s handball.
Grealish then sent the 2,500 travelling supporters into delirium with a goal of top-flight quality: carrying the ball at pace towards the Rotherham backline, he fed the overlapping Ahmed Elmohamady and ghosted into space to apply a decisive conclusion to the one-two from a dozen yards.
From that point, Villa’s seventh straight league win looked an inevitability. In
