Sam Allardyce's reign as West Bromwich Albion manager got off to a miserable start as Aston Villa brushed aside the 10-man Baggies. Anwar El Ghazi's improvised close-range finish gave Villa an early advantage in a West Midlands derby that was one-sided even before Baggies captain Jake Livermore's red card. The visitors were utterly dominant once Martin Atkinson consulted his pitchside monitor and decided to dismiss Livermore for a studs-up lunge on Jack Grealish before half-time. They sealed the points with two goals in the closing stages as Grealish set up Bertrand Traore's cool side-footer and then won the penalty converted by El Ghazi for the Dutchman's second. Albion might be aggrieved that the VAR did not request Atkinson take a second look when Kortney Hause trod on the ankle of Baggies midfielder Grady Diangana shortly after Livermore's sending-off. But it was still a night to forget for Allardyce, whose side remain three points from safety in 19th, as he returned to a Premier League dugout for the first time since May 2018. Much has been made of Allardyce's record of never suffering relegation from the Premier League as a manager but he will already be aware he has an uphill task to maintain that proud statistic. While his new charges showed the sort of resilience that earned them a point at Manchester City in midweek in Slaven Bilic's final game in charge, they lacked the quality and potency to trouble Villa even before going down to 10 men. Albion did not collapse after Livermore's ejection like they did following Matheus Pereira's red card in their last home game when Crystal Palace cruised to a 5-1 victory but, in truth, the scoreline could have been even more embarrassing than that. John McGinn headed a Grealish cross wide, Ollie Watkins saw a sliding finish scrubbed off for offside by VAR and Albion goalkeeper Sam Johnstone twice superbly denied El Ghazi before the incessant pressure told late on. With the January transfer window looming, Allardyce will need to bolster a defence that has conceded 29 goals - a tally only surpassed by Leeds - while reinvigorating an attack that has netted just five times in their past 11 games. They failed to force Emiliano Martinez into a save of note as Allardyce suffered only a second opening-game defeat in a 20-year Premier League managerial career now spanning eight clubs. The fixture list will not make pleasing reading for the former England manager, whose side face Liverpool, Wolves and Manchester City among their next six as they seek to add to their solitary win this term. Vibrant Villa terrific on travels again While it will be their shortest trip of the season - just four miles down the road from Villa Park - the impressive victory was still another away win for Dean Smith's men, their fifth in just six attempts. It's a far cry from their form on their travels last season when they collected just 11 points, a total Villa - who have now kept seven clean sheets in 12 games - have already comfortably surpassed. Smith's team look transformed from the one that narrowly stayed up on the final day in July and once El Ghazi used the outside of his boot to flick Traore's teasing cross past Johnstone five minutes in, the outcome was rarely in doubt. The goals had dried up in recent weeks - three in the past four games after netting 18 in their opening seven - but if Traore and Grealish, in particular, continue the type of irresistible display each produced at The Hawthorns, that will be just a blip. Traore's composed finish, almost passing the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box after a surging run, made him Villa's ninth different scorer of the campaign, while the excellent Grealish was again a target for defenders as Semi Ajayi barged into him to give away the spot-kick. El Ghazi, making only a second start of the season, was equally influential and has clearly developed a liking for Midlands derbies - he also netted twice against the Baggies in the Championship in 2018 and scored the winner at Wolves recently. Victory lifted Villa back up to ninth, with games in hand on the sides above them, as they seek a first top-half finish since 2010-11 in Gerard Houllier's sole season in charge. Aston Villa head coach Dean Smith: "To win three games away from home 3-0 shows we are in a good place. We started really well and our energy levels were there to see - we controlled it from start to finish. "There were times last season when the opposition went down to 10 men and we tried to force it but we were patient. "We missed a number of chances to make it 2-0 and the offside call for Ollie Watkins was very marginal. I don't think they had a shot on goal against us all game." --- ​*The Guardian* *Sunday, 20 December 2020* Anwar El Ghazi's double for Aston Villa ruins Sam Allardyce's start at West Brom ​Thirty-five minutes into his return to management, Sam Allardyce must have started wondering about the wisdom of abandoning a life of leisure. ​The 66-year-old had said he accepted West Brom’s appeal for help on Wednesday partly because he grew bored of an existence in which the toughest decision he had to make concerned his lunch menu, but he certainly did not relish the pickle in which his new team found themselves here when their captain, Jake Livermore, was sent before half-time with his team already trailing 1-0 to an early goal by Anwar El Ghazi. Things soon got more unpalatable for the man hired to haul West Brom out of relegation trouble, as Bertrand Traoré added another for Villa before El Ghazi claimed his second goal of the game with a late penalty. ​In the time between Allardyce’s dismissal from his last job, at Everton in May 2018, and this first match in charge of West Brom, there has been one obvious development in football: VAR. Allardyce had said at his unveiling that he dreaded being caught up in controversies involving the technology, and that fear was realised before even one half had elapsed here when Livermore had a yellow card upgraded to a red after the referee, Martin Atkinson consulted the pitchside monitor and then, for reasons unclear, similar action was not taken moments later when Villa’s Kortney Hause was merely booked for lunging into Grady Diangana. ​“I don’t know why the VAR didn’t tell the referee to look at it; it was a ankle- or leg-threatening challenge,” said Allardyce. “I find myself talking about VAR when I really didn’t want to.” ​He had no quibble with the decision to send off Livermore, whose recklessness he condemned. “I couldn’t be anything but upset when you tell the players when you first arrive that the one thing we can’t afford to do is have more sendings-off because we’ve already had two this season before I came,” said Allardyce, adding that his captaincy is up for grabs. “It depends now on who wants to be captain and how he can handle the armband.” Allardyce has other worries, too. He had hoped to see some consistency of performance when he began his reign by selecting the same team that drew at Manchester City in what turned out to be Slaven Bilic’s last match. But the rare solidity that Albion showed at the Etihad was nowhere to be seen when they fell behind in less than five minutes at the Hawthorns. ​Traoré created the breakthrough with a dainty cross from the right-hand corner of the home box, before El Ghazi finished with improvised excellence at the back post, angling his leg like a chicken wing before guiding the ball into the net with a beautifully feathered volley. It was an artfully taken goal but Allardyce lamented the defending. “It was hugely disappointing to lose such a soft goal,” he said. “We’ve got to stop that or we’ve no chance of getting out of trouble.” ​At least Albion mostly restricted Villa to long-range shots for the remainder of the first half, apart from when Ollie Watkins headed just over from eight yards after a flowing move by the visitors and a fine cross from the right by Matty Cash. But the hosts, admittedly deprived of their most creative player, the suspended Matheus Pereira, never looked capable of threatening at the other end. Emiliano Martínez had one shot to save all match, a harmless free-kick by Darnell Furlong after Hause’s tackle. Villa could have played most of the second half in slippers. With Jack Grealish prompting brilliantly from a central role behind Watkins, the visitors appeared to be having fun. “At times it was like Jack was playing in the playground with his schoolmates,” said Dean Smith. McGinn headed wide from a cross by Grealish in the 52nd minute. Sam Johnstone made two strong saves to stop El Ghazi from scoring after moves orchestrated by Grealish. Watkins had a goal ruled out after another sweet cross by Cash, VAR reprieving the hosts this time. With 12 minute to go Allardyce changed tactics, introducing two substitutes and switching to a back three. West Brom improved and began to push Villa back a little. But not for long. Villa struck on the counterattack six minutes from time when Grealish released Traoré, who curled a nonchalant finish into the bottom corner from the edge of the area. There was time for things to get worse for West Brom, as El Ghazi converted a penalty after the umpteenth foul on Grealish. This was only the second time in his long managerial career that Allardyce has lost his first match in charge of a club. He has a heck of a job trying to figure out how to get his first win with West Brom. ---