Express & Star

Morgan Rogers finds the net again in Aston Villa’s latest victory

Morgan Rogers was among the scorers again as Villa eased to a 3-0 victory over Spartak Trnava in their second pre-season friendly in Slovakia.

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Villa took 38 minutes to get off the mark when Leon Bailey cut inside and checked on to his left foot before bending a classy finish into the far corner.

Unai Emery fielded a completely different XI after the break as Rogers took centre stage for Villa.

Rogers extended his pre-season tally to three goals, after his brace at Walsall on Wednesday, as he doubled Villa’s advantage eight minutes after the restart.

Ross Barkley swept a sumptuous pass into the feet of Rogers from inside his own half. Rogers then slipped a neat reverse pass into the path of youngster Kadan Young, who was thwarted by Spartak goalkeeper Ziga Frelih, but Rogers quickly pounced to prod home the rebound from close-range.

He almost added a second in quick succession when he weaved his way into the box by hurdling a couple of challenges but Spartak managed to divert his finish over the crossbar.

Villa took complete control heading into the closing stages and wrapped up the win when Cameron Archer added a third in the 89th minute. It was another nicely-worked passing move, which started when Dutchman Lamare Bogarde picked up a loose ball inside the Spartak half.

He pumped the ball forward to Rogers, who was deceptively hovering between the lines, and with a delightful first touch, Rogers then slotted a through ball into the path of Archer to bury his finish inside the near post.

Villa have collected two wins from two in pre-season so far after also beating Walsall 3-0 at Bescot on Wednesday.

Emery will take his squad to the United States next week where they’ll face Columbus Crew (Jul 27), RB Leipzig (Jul 31) and Mexican outfit Club America (Aug 3).

They will then conclude their pre-season programme with a clash against Athletic Bilbao at Bescot on August 7, before travelling to the Signal Iduna Park to face last season’s Uefa Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund three days later.