Bertrand Traore scored his first Premier League goal for Aston Villa in Sunday’s 3-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion, in the process ending his four-year wait to find the back of the net in the English top flight.
The Burkina Faso international had assisted Anwar El-Ghazi for the Claret and Blue Army’s first goal just five minutes into the game at the Hawthorns.
Traore darted down the right flank before bending in a cross to the back post for the Netherlands international to score.
The hosts’ ambition of equalising were dashed in the 37th minute as Jake Livermore was given his marching orders following a high and reckless tackle on Jack Grealish.
Traore doubled his side’s advantage in the 84th minute after he collected an offload from Grealish, charged forward and cut back before placing the ball in the corner of Sam Johnstone’s goal with a sublime finish.
El-Ghazi completed his brace from the penalty spot four minutes later after Nigeria international Semi Ajayi had bundled down captain Grealish.
Traore moved to Villa Park after falling out of favour at Lyon, where he scored just four goals and provided five assists in 35 competitive appearances, his lowest goal involvement for the French giants. Overall, he had a hand in 50 goals (33 goals, 17 assists) for Les Gones, playing 126 times.
His career began at Chelsea where he played 16 times between 2014 and 2017, scoring four goals and providing an assist. During that time, he was loaned out to Vitesse Arnhem and Ajax in the Netherlands.
On his return to English football, he got a goal as Aston Villa got the better of Bristol City 3-0 in the EFL Cup third round at Ashton Gate on Thursday night.
With Sunday's result, Villa moved to ninth in the Premier League log after garnering 22 points from 12 outings.
They take on Crystal Palace at home on Boxing Day in their next Premier League game, while West Brom are next in action against Liverpool on the road on December 27.
On the international scene, Traore made his senior debut for the Stallions at the age of 15 years in a friendly match against Equatorial Guinea.
He has also represented the West African country at three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.