As Emiliano Buendía wheeled towards the nearest corner clenching his fists in celebration, in front of the bank of 1,848 travelling Aston Villa supporters, it was the kind of cathartic moment he longed for on the darker days of his recovery from an anterior cruciate ligament knee injury. Buendía, captaining a youthful Villa, headed in the opening goal before Jhon Durán continued his extraordinary run to score his fifth goal of the season, this time from the penalty spot on his first start of the campaign. The Wycombe substitute Richard Kone scored a late, late consolation.
For Buendía, these are all milestones. He scored twice for Villa’s under-21s at Fleetwood in an EFL Trophy win earlier this month and on his first senior start for 16 months he paved the way to the Carabao Cup fourth round. “It is a really special night, to come back to play again for this club,” the Argentinian said. “It is my fourth season here, to have the captain’s armband and to help the team with a goal and get through to another round is an amazing feeling.”
