Jack Grealish may have left Aston Villa for Manchester City over a year ago, but the former captain is still a Villan at heart.
Grealish has more than once proven his continued love for all things Villa, and it appears he’s excited to watch his old club resume their rivalry with Leeds United again this weekend – LIVE on talkSPORT.
Grealish has liked a photo of him posted by his mate, former Villa striker and talkSPORT co-host Gabriel Agbonlahor, ahead of their latest clash with Leeds.
Gabby posted a snap of a feisty-looking Grealish in the middle of a on-the-field brawl between Villa and Leeds, with the caption: “Let’s beat these!! I’ll be there.”
But this wasn’t just a picture of any old game between the sides.
Villa and Leeds have faced each other five times since that photo was taken in the 1-1 draw in 2019 in the Championship, with the Villans winning two, Leeds winning one and the other two fixtures ending in a stalemate.
However, that game in the second tier was by the far the most memorable and went down as one of the most controversial moments in football history.
With both sides battling near the top of the second tier for automatic promotion back to the Premier League, tensions completely spilled over at Elland Road.
At 0-0, Villa forward Jonathan Kodjia had gone down injured, leading the players to stand still as it appeared the ball would be put out of play.
But Leeds kept going, with Mateusz Klich making his way into the box and firing past Jed Steer in goal.
A brawl then broke out as soon as Klich scored, and it resulted in two bookings and a red card for Anwar El Ghazi for an apparent elbow on Patrick Bamford – producing the image posted for Gabby ahead of Friday’s match.
After that incident, Marcelo Bielsa then ordered his players to allow Albert Adomah a free shot on goal, and all the players did stop after the restart, except for now-Brentford man Pontus Jansson, who tried to win the ball off Adomah – the eventual goalscorer.
Leeds then lost out on the chance to seal automatic promotion, and didn’t go up until the season after.
And Grealish – who went on to help Villa achieve promotion after the 1-1 draw – clearly loved Gabby’s post, liking the photo of the crazy clash.
It’s not the first time Grealish has showed his love for Unai Emery’s side recently, either.
During the World Cup, the England international explained he loved fellow Birmingham-born Three Lions star Jude Bellingham, apart from the fact he came through Villa rivals Birmingham City’s academy.
Once a Villan, always a Villan!
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