Aston Villa respond to Steven Gerrard's sacking with emphatic win over Brentford

Danny Ings bagged a brace as Aston Villa thrashed Brentford 4-0 in their first game after Steven Gerrard was sacked as head coach.

Villa – under the caretaker charge of Aaron Danks – blew the Bees away with three goals in the opening 14 minutes at Villa Park, then added another in the second half as they cruised to only a third Premier League win of the season.

Leon Bailey put the hosts ahead just 62 seconds in, before Ings doubled their lead five minutes later and made it 3-0 from the spot with less than a quarter-of-an-hour played.

Ollie Watkins capped things off just before the hour mark, scoring against his former club – who, just four days after holding Chelsea to a 0-0 draw, suffered their second four-goal loss in four matches.

The result gives Villa a much-needed lift and rather shows how stale things had become under Gerrard (Villa took just nine points from their first 11 league games this term).

Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim is the current bookies' favourites to succeed Gerrard in the Villa Park hotseat. Villa head to Newcastle on Saturday.