Aston Villa recorded their first Premier League victory since the middle of September on Sunday afternoon, running out 4-0 winners over Brentford at Villa Park.
Steven Gerrard was sacked as head coach following the 3-0 loss at Fulham on Thursday, but a much-improved Villa proved to be too strong for Brentford over the course of the 90 minutes.
The success has seen the home side move into 14th position in the Premier League table, while Brentford remain 10th following their fourth defeat of the 2022-23 campaign.
Villa caretaker boss Aaron Danks saw his team take the lead in just the second minute, with Leon Bailey sweeping a low Douglas Luiz cross into the back of the net.
It was the perfect start for the home side, and they had a second in the seventh minute, with Bailey this time proving to be the provider, setting up Danny Ings to score from close range.
Brentford were all over the place and conceded a third from the penalty spot in the 14th minute after Tyrone Mings had been fouled inside the box by Bees defender Kristoffer Ajer, with Ings stepping up to score his second of the contest.
Villa were not finished, though, and made it 4-0 just before the hour when Ollie Watkins finished from close range at the third time of asking after being denied by David Raya and then the post with his first two efforts.
It was a dominant performance from the hosts, who had 11 shots on goal over the course of the 90 minutes, but they did have less possession (44%) than their opponents (56%).
Next up for Villa is a trip to Newcastle United next weekend before welcoming Manchester United to Villa Park at the start of November.
Meanwhile, Brentford will be bidding to bounce back from the heavy defeat when they welcome struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday afternoon.
Matt Law
