There were 11 minutes of peril for Steven Gerrard, 11 minutes when a troubled start to the season threatened to become a terrible one. But if Aston Villa needed to turn a corner, their night changed when they scored direct from one. Gerrard was a triple League Cup winner in his playing days and had four goals to celebrate. The strangest of them, courtesy of Douglas Luiz, meant Bolton Wanderers’ lead was brief and the prospect of Gerrard’s worst result of his time at Villa faded, to be replaced by an emphatic victory.
Danny Ings, Lucas Digne and Leon Bailey swept Villa into the third round and Gerrard could be spared uncomfortable reminders that his sacked predecessor, Dean Smith, took Villa to the final of the Carabao Cup. A matchday squad that cost £235 million to assemble asserted their superiority over the side seventh in League One. Times have changed: it is 18 years since Bolton beat Villa 5-2 in a League Cup semi-final and if they do not meet as equals anymore, their supporters could enjoy singing that Gerrard would be sacked in the morning before Luiz levelled.
