Though they battled bravely, plucky little Aston Villa ended up tumbling out of the League Cup at the first hurdle with a 3-1 defeat against League Two behemoths Luton Town on Wednesday night.
Villa pushed hard from the off and actually nudged themselves ahead through Jordan Ayew in the 13th minute but Luton came haring back to win as a 66th-minute own-goal from Jores Okore sealed the Championship side’s fate…
GOAL! Luton 3-1 Aston Villa. Awful, awful stuff from Jores Okore!
Live blog: https://t.co/kDJn1DuK0N https://t.co/jheMy6jKc9
— Sky Sports EFL (@SkySportsEFL) August 10, 2016
Shortly before kick-off, Villa’s new owner Dr Tony Xia confidently predicted his side would would be back among the European elite within five years and Champions League winners inside 10.
Not the most auspicious start.