Ross Barkley conjures piece of late magic to earn redemption for Aston Villa at Leicester

It was only 223 days ago when Aston Villa were thrashed here by an upwardly mobile Leicester, with Dean Smith’s squad appearing doomed for a swift return to the Championship.

Times have certainly changed, and this was further evidence of Villa’s progress since that dreadful March evening as Ross Barkley secured their fourth successive Premier League victory.

Barkley’s second goal since signing on loan from Chelsea was late, coming deep into added time, but lifted Villa into second place and the feelgood factor under Smith is tangible.

Two weeks after destroying champions Liverpool with seven goals, Villa displayed a different side with a solid defensive performance against a Leicester team missing the injured Jamie Vardy.

It was a moment of magic from Barkley which settled a bad-tempered contest, and Smith’s squad have won their first four league games for the first time since the 1930/31 season. They are also the only team in Europe’s top five leagues to boast a 100 per cent record.

Early days perhaps, but quite a turnaround for a club which escaped the drop on the final day of last season.

Smith said: “We never get too high when we’re winning and we didn’t get too down last season when we were fighting relegation. It is a really good start but we are just looking at the next game. We will savour what we are doing at the moment and look forward to the Leeds game.

"Everyone has had a short pre-season. There are a lot of tired legs but they are getting into the season slowly but surely. We needed a bit of quality to win it and Ross certainly showed that at the end. We have seen him do that enough times for Everton and Chelsea and we’re pleased he’s doing it for us.”

That 4-0 hammering at the King Power Stadium in March was Smith’s lowest point last season, but his squad now represent an entirely different proposition.

Harder to beat, resilient and organised in defence, they now have more match-winners like Barkley to take the pressure off captain Jack Grealish, who was outstanding again here.

Barkley said: “The manager has given me the platform to play and I am excited and looking forward to every game. I was 50/50 in the week and [our physio] did a really good job getting me right. He said I would end up scoring the goal and I did so I dedicated the goal to him.”

The last meeting here was the last Premier League game with supporters present, yet the most notable absentee for Leicester was undoubtedly Vardy.

He scored twice in the March meeting, but was sitting in the stand here after picking up a calf problem. Without the 33-year-old forward, Leicester can often be predictable and devoid of a cutting edge.

Whenever they did find a way through Villa’s high-block, goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez was a commanding presence and already appears a shrewd £20 million buy from Arsenal with three clean sheets.

This was threatening to become the first goalless draw in the Premier League of the season so far, in this most capricious of campaigns, despite the invention of Grealish on the left.

Grealish drew regular fouls and frequently cut Leicester apart with his vision in a niggly contest which had seven players booked.

Brendan Rodgers introduced his own playmaker, James Maddison, with 22 minutes left as the game threatened to drift, with £28 million signing Islam Slimani emerging soon after for his first Leicester appearance since January 2018.

But it was Barkley who settled it, finding space on the edge of the area and sweeping a low 25-yard shot into the corner to spark wild scenes of celebration on the Villa bench.

Leicester have now lost two games in a row at the King Power Stadium, ahead of their first Europa League outing on Thursday evening.

Rodgers, who revealed Vardy will miss the game on Thursday against FC Zorya, said: “I thought we were unfortunate to lose a very close game. We didn’t work the goalkeeper as much as we would like.

“It’s a disappointing result but, with the players we had available, a good effort from them all.

“We have a lot of games coming up. A number of players will need game time.”