Aston Villa made a winning start to life after Steven Gerrard, defeating Brentford at a raucous Villa Park for only their third win of the season.
Following a crushing defeat at Fulham on Thursday, ex-Liverpool captain Gerrard was sacked, with first team coach Aaron Danks taking command of Sunday’s game.
And Danks had an outstanding debut in charge as Villa raced ahead 3-0 after only 15 minutes.
Leon Bailey opened the scoring in the second minute, sweeping in from Douglas Luiz’s assist after a clever corner sequence.
Five minutes later, Danny Ings punched in from Bailey’s cross to make it 2-0, and the striker added his second of the game in the 14th minute.
Brentford rarely looked capable of providing a response, with their best chance of the first half an Ethan Pinnock goal-bound volley that was blocked by his team-mate, summing up the Bees’ fortunes.
Instead, the visitors were reliant on David Raya preventing Villa from adding further goals before half-time as he kept out efforts from Matty Cash and Luiz.
Brentford were marginally better after the break but could not prevent ex-Bees striker Ollie Watkins adding a fourth when he finished from close range after his initial shot had been pushed on to the post.
The win moved Villa up to 14th in the Premier League, three points above the bottom three. Brentford, meanwhile, are 10th on 14 points.
